Godfrey-Lee’s varsity football program has not played a full season of 11-man football since 2019.
This off-season, Coach Lamar Marshall and his team prepared for a return to the traditional format. Due to low roster numbers, however, the Legends will once again compete in the MHSAA 8-man football division for the fourth-straight year.
“Unfortunately, we lost some players to transfer,” said Marshall, in his fourth year, whose Legends ended the 2024 season with a 4-5 record. “So we ended up making the decision to come back to the 8-man game.
“It will be business as usual to prepare for the season, and I’m excited for what’s coming up.”
Key players and dual roles
The 2025 Legends will boast an even number of seniors and lowerclassmen. Among the returning seniors is the wide receiver trio of Jaden Potts, Manny Ramos and Aidan Merriweather.
The trio accounted for 95 catches, 909 yards, and nine touchdowns from the graduated Anthony Blok.
Jaden Potts, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)Jayden Sanchez, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)Daeden Lopez, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)Aidan Merriweather, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)Manny Ramos, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)Joseph Marshall, Lee Legends (Courtesy, Ty Marzean)
Potts will find himself all over the field as he is a stout force on the defensive side of the ball as well.
“Jaden Potts is our offensive captain, our defensive captain. He gets us into position on defense, and offensively – if you need a key play – he can come up big,” Marshall said.
Merriweather also will play a dual role for the Legends. The dexterous wideout collected 25 tackles last season and also will play running back on offense.
“He’s going to be our gadget guy,” Marshall said. “He’s coming off a foot injury from track, so he’s knocking the rust off, but he’s going to be a monster for us this year.”
Junior Jayden Sanchez will convert to quarterback from running back, where he led the Legends in rushing with 622 yards and seven touchdowns, pinballing his way to 10 yards per carry.
The Lee Legends varsity football team prepares for its first game of the 2025-26 season (Ty Marzean/WKTV Contributor)
“He’s a load to bring down,” Marshall said of his new signal caller. “He played quarterback under me in middle school, so he’s been in the system for a long time.”
The offensive line will be anchored by a pair of four-year varsity starters, 6-4 guard Darnell Burton and 220-lb. center Daeden Lopez.
Legends Schedule
The Legends will kick off the 2025 season with a pair of home games, hosting Baldwin on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. and Sacred Heart Academy on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. in the WKTV Game of the Week.
South Christian quarterback Austin Burgess has big shoes to fill taking over for standout Carson Vis, who signed to play basketball at Western Michigan University. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
After a tough regular season grind, the South Christian team played some of its best football of the season in the playoffs last fall. This year, with plenty of veteran players returning, the Sailors are poised to build on that momentum.
The Sailors, who have been on a roll as a program the past several years, turned in a 5-4 regular-season record last fall playing in a new-look OK Gold Conference that featured powerhouses like Zeeland West, Forest Hills Central and Unity Christian. That gauntlet of a schedule paid dividends come playoff time as the Sailors reeled off three straight wins before falling to Niles in the Division 4 state semifinals to finish the season with an 8-5 overall record.
With a solid core of players returning from last year’s squad, South Christian is poised for another exciting season.
“We’re excited about the season,” said South Christian Coach Danny Brown. “Obviously, camp was a grind. It was a lot of football, but I thought it went well and the team grew a lot together. We’re excited to see how everything comes together.”
The Sailors will have a different look on the offensive side of the ball this year as two-year starting quarterback Carson Vis has moved on to Western Michigan University where he’ll play basketball this winter.
Taking over the quarterback duties this season is junior Austin Burgess (6-0, 175) who is looking to carry on the Sailor tradition of developing strong dual-threat quarterbacks.
“Austin is a good leader and has a calming presence,” Brown said. “When he plays free and is having fun out there it’s contagious. He has a good command of the offense. He can throw and run, and that dual-threat ability is a good asset to have on offense.”
Burgess will have a big-time receiver to throw the ball to in senior wide receiver Owen Burgess (6-1, 180), a returning all-state performer.
“Owen is a good route runner,” Brown said. “He also has real good hands. He had a good year for us last year and we’re looking for him to have another really good year.”
Behind Burgess are several receivers looking to step up this season who also give the team outstanding depth at the position.
Isaac Osterhaven, South Christian running back. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
Depth also is a strong point at running back where a trio of ball carriers are in the mix for carries this season. Juniors Isaac Osterhaven (6-0, 195) and Jesse Van De Griend (5-9, 150) and sophomore Kyle Naklizki (5-9, 185) give the Sailors plenty of options.
“This is a year where we are really deep at running back,” Brown said. “We have three guys that can run well. The backfield will be a shared responsibility. It’s going to be nice to spread the ball around and ride these guys.”
South also is deep along the offensive front where several veterans are also back to anchor the line.
Returning at left tackle is junior Jackson Rynalda (6-3, 210), who started last season. Back at right guard is junior Greyson Hunderman (6-0, 205) while senior right tackle Carson Joldersma (6-6, 250) also started some games a year ago.
Rounding out the offensive line is senior left guard Grant Jansen (6-1, 175), who earned some starts last year along with junior center Joseph Gritter (6-0, 195).
“We’re excited about our offensive line group,” Brown said. “They have quite a bit of varsity experience and have played in some big games.”
A key for the Sailors on the offensive side of the ball is establishing the ground game.
“For us the big thing is establishing the running game,” Brown said. “Running the ball will be important for us to create success and to set up the pass.”
On the defensive side the Sailors also return plenty of experience.
Ben Buiter, South Christian defensive line. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
Up front, senior Ben Buiter (6-2, 205) is a returning starter that’ll help anchor the defensive line.
Junior defensive lineman Nathan Potter (6-3, 250) also is a returning starter and will make the Sailors tough to run against.
Junior defensive end Gavin Bouma (6-3, 190) also is back after playing in every game a year ago.
“We are going to count on good years from those three guys,” Brown said.
At linebacker, the Sailors return senior Kasjen VanSolkema (5-11, 182) and senior Caleb Wieneke (6-3, 205). Wieneke was a starter last fall and is moving to inside linebacker this season.
Senior Noah Klump (6-0, 155), who started at safety last year, will play a hybrid safety/linebacker position this season.
Noah Klump, South Christian safety/linebacker. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
In the secondary, the Sailors return a pair of starters in junior Mark DeJong (6-1, 175) and Owen Burgess. Sophomore Brody Shilts (6-1, 170) is a returning starter who has a year of experience to draw on. Fellow sophomore Ben Jackson (6-0, 175) was moved up to the varsity for the playoffs last season and also will see playing time in the secondary.
“Defensively we’ve had a scheme change that we have been working on in the offseason,” Brown said. “The kids have taken well to it. The nice thing about this defense is that we have some guys who played meaningful minutes last season and we have some guys ready to step in and provide depth. I’m excited about our defense this season.”
Owen Burgess, South Christian secondary. (Greg Chrapek/WKTV Contributor)
As usual, the Sailors face a rugged schedule not only in the conference, but out of the conference. South Christian opens at Grand Rapids Christian on Friday in the WKTV Game of the Week and then takes on East Grand Rapids in Week 2.
The conference schedule again includes defending Division 3 state champion Zeeland West along with playoff teams like Forest Hills Central, Unity Christian and Zeeland East. The Sailors close out the regular season against Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
“It’s a tough league,” Brown said. “There are a lot of really good football teams in the OK Gold. There are teams that have had a ton of success and a ton of playoff success. It is definitely in my opinion one of the toughest conferences around.”
Girls field hockey and boys volleyball make their debuts with MHSAA sponsorship during the 2025-26 school year. Field hockey will be played in the fall, while boys volleyball begins its first season in the spring.
There are 37 varsity teams expected to play during the inaugural field hockey season. There will be one playoff division, with the first MHSAA Regionals in this sport beginning Oct. 8 and the first championship awarded Oct. 25.
Practices are set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, for an anticipated 100,000 high school athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools.
The fall season includes the most played sports for both boys and girls; 36,210 football players and 19,679 girls volleyball players competed during the Fall 2024 season. Teams in those sports will be joined by competitors in girls and boys cross country, field hockey, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis in beginning practice next week. Competition begins Aug. 15 for cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer and tennis, Aug. 20 for swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 28 for varsity football.
Pilot program in Boys Tennis Finals To conclude their season, Lower Peninsula boys tennis teams will begin a pilot program showcasing Finals for all four divisions at the same location – Midland Tennis Center – over a two-week period. Division 4 will begin play with its two-day event Oct. 15-16, followed by Division 1 on Oct. 17-18, Division 2 on Oct. 22-23 and Division 3 played Oct. 24-25.
Also in Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls in the spring, a Finals qualification change will allow for teams that finish third at their Regionals to advance to the season-ending tournament as well, but only in postseason divisions where there are six Regionals – which will be all four boys divisions this fall.
Football Finals now 3 days The 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field will be played this fall over a three-day period, with Division 8, 4, 6 and 2 games on Friday, Nov. 28, and Division 7, 3, 5 and 1 games played Sunday, Nov. 30, to accommodate Michigan State’s game against Maryland on Nov. 29 at Ford Field.
Two more changes affecting football playoffs will be noticeable this fall. For the first time, 8-Player Semifinals will be played at neutral sites; previously the team with the highest playoff-point average continued to host during that round. Also, teams that forfeit games will no longer receive playoff-point average strength-of-schedule bonus points from those opponents to which they forfeited.
Boys soccer rule changes A pair of changes in boys soccer this fall will address sportsmanship. The first allows game officials to take action against a team’s head coach in addition to any cautions or ejections issues to players and personnel in that team’s bench area – making the head coach more accountable for behavior on the sideline. The second change allows for only the team captain to speak with an official during the breaks between periods (halftime and during overtime), unless another coach, player, etc., is summoned by the official – with the penalty a yellow card to the offending individual.
More game-action rule changes
In volleyball, multiple contacts by one player attempting to play the ball will now be allowed on second contact if the next contact is by a teammate on the same side of the net.
In swimming & diving, backstroke ledges will be permitted in pools that maintain a 6-foot water depth. If used in competition, identical ledges must be provided by the host team for all lanes, although individual swimmers are not required to use them.
Also in swimming & diving – during relay exchanges – second, third and fourth swimmers must have one foot stationary at the front edge of the deck. The remainder of their bodies may be in motion prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.
In football, when a forward fumble goes out of bounds, the ball will now be spotted where the fumble occurred instead of where the ball crossed the sideline.
Former heavyweight champion Buster Mathis Jr. poses in front of some of the numerous press clippings of Pride boxing at the reunion. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Memories came flowing back in waves Saturday as former boxers from the Pride Boxing Gym gathered together for a first-time reunion in Byron Center.
Grand Rapids has a long and rich amateur boxing history and the former Pride Gym, which was located near the corner of Division and Burton streets in Grand Rapids, was one of the shining stars of the amateur boxing scene in West Michigan during the 1980s and 90s.
The names and the accomplishments were the things of legend in the amateur boxing realm. Among the boxers, many of them who went on to successful professional boxing careers that trained at the Pride Gym were the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr., Buster Mathis Jr., Juan Padin, Kevin Childrey, Tony Quintana, Sugar Ray Collins, Brian Blakely, Kevin “KP” Porter and a host of others.
Many of those boxers were on hand for a reunion and picnic Saturday. The stories were numerous and the laughs and smiles flowed as over 25 former Pride boxers took part.
Burr Elzinga of Wyoming was one of those boxers who brought home one of many Golden Gloves state championships during the storied run of the Pride gym that began in 1985 and continued until it closed in 2000.
“It was a great facility that provided so much benefit for a whole lot of young people who needed it,” Elzinga said. “It helped so many kids. It was really a beautiful place and we are all very thankful for it.”
The reunion was organized by the two men who got Pride Gym up and running in the mid 80’s, Bob Serulla and Bruce Kielty.
Founders Bruce Kielty (left) and Bob Serulla reminisce at the Pride Boxing Club reunion. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Ionia State Prison ring purchased for one dollar
“Bruce and I opened the gym 40 years ago,” said Serulla, who’s also a boxing announcer and co-host for WKTV’s Golden Gloves programming. “We talked about opening a gym and we met with Buster Mathis Sr. We talked to him about opening the gym and having him train young men. We finally found a location, but we didn’t even have a ring. The Ionia State Prison had a boxing program way back and we found out they still had their old ring. We contacted the prison about seeing if they would donate the ring and they said that we could buy it for $1. It was an old Everlast ring, but it was perfect for us and we got the gym going.”
Kielty also fondly recalled the beginnings of the gym.
“It was quite a dream of ours,” Kielty said. “We brought in Buster Mathis Sr. to be our head coach and we also had Phil McConahy who was another great coach. We had a very successful 10-12-year run.”
In Buster Mathis Sr., the Pride Gym had a name that was sure to get the attention of young boxing prospects in West Michigan. One of the finest heavyweights in the 1960s and 70s, Buster Mathis Sr. fought the great Muhammad Ali as well as other notables Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Jerry Quarry and Ron Lyle.
Trainer Buster Mathis Sr. helped grow the Pride Gym
With a trainer like Buster Mathis Sr. working with the boxers, the Pride Gym grew rapidly and produced a wealth of boxing talent.
Mathis Sr. was not the only high-level trainer at Pride as Johnny Butler also trained boxers. Butler, an amateur national champion in 1958, who is over 90-years old now, was also on hand for the reunion Saturday.
Boxers came from all over the country to reunite
The former Pride boxers came from all across the country for the reunion that first started sending out invitations a few years ago.
“We have boxers coming in from California, Montana, Alabama, Florida, Atlanta, you name it,” Serulla said. “It is a heck of a group. Almost everyone was able to make it in.”
Kielty also was thrilled to see the reunion come to fruition.
“This reunion is also very special,” Kielty said. “We have former boxers living all over the country and this reunion was another dream come true. We started sending invitations out three years ago. Boxing is a unique fraternity and this was something we really wanted to do.”
Juan Padin (left) and Brian Blakely were two of the original boxers at the Pride Boxing Club. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Juan Padin and Brian Blakely first to join Pride
The first two boxers who joined Pride in the beginning, Juan Padin and Brian Blakely, became the backbone of the team and both became captains.
“It started with Juan Padin and me, we were the first two,” Blakely said. “I started when I was 14-years old. We would be going to different shows and doing really well and people were starting to ask ‘who is Pride’. No one knew who we were, but before long people began to know. There were a lot of good people in Pride. We had really good coaches who gave us a lot of attention.”
Blakely and Padin won a number of state titles during their boxing days at Pride and also went on to compete for national championships.
Blakely eventually turned professional and actually made his professional debut in November of 1990 in a boxing show at the Welsh Auditorium in downtown Grand Rapids that featured the last match of Floyd Mayweather Sr.
The former boxers of the Pride Boxing Club get together for a group photo at the first-ever reunion of the gym. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
The new Pride Gym was a perfect spot for Padin to begin his boxing career. The then 16-year old Padin had just moved to Grand Rapids from Brooklyn, New York.
“I just moved to Grand Rapids and didn’t know anyone,” Padin said. “I just went into the gym one day after it first opened and I kept coming back. It was a great gym. One thing about Pride fighters is that they got us in shape. You never had to worry about a Pride fighter running out of gas.”
Padin made the trip to Grand Rapids from Birmingham, Ala., where he now lives.
“This reunion is just great,” Padin said. “I haven’t seen a lot of these guys in a long time. This is just awesome to see all my old teammates and coaches. It’s a lot of great memories. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Former champion Buster Mathis Jr. excelled at Pride Gym
The reunion also was special to Buster Mathis Jr., who grew into a champion amateur and professional boxer under the tutelage of his father and the team at Pride.
“I learned a lot of life lessons from my father,” Mathis Jr. said. “Boxing helped me in a lot of different areas in my life. The lessons I learned from boxing helped me to do a lot of other things later in my life.”
Taking up boxing as a 14-year old not only changed his life, but also changed the younger Mathis’ body.
“I weighed 280 pounds when I first came to the gym and started boxing,” Mathis Jr. said. “My dad trained me for a whole year and when I was a 15-year old I was down to 180 pounds. When I eventually fought Tyson as a pro I was at 225 pounds.”
After a highly successful amateur career, Mathis Jr. became a professional where he won 21 of 26 bouts and also won a USBA heavyweight championship. Mathis Jr. not only fought Mike Tyson, but also former world heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe.
For Mathis Jr., like the rest of the Pride boxers, the team atmosphere at the gym was one of the highlights of being a boxer at Pride.
“Everybody sparred with everybody,” Mathis Jr. said. “The atmosphere in the gym was just phenomenal. It was basically more like a family type of thing.”
Buster Mathis Sr. passed away in 1995 just prior to his son’s bout with Tyson. If the senior Mathis was alive today, Buster Jr. had no doubt where his dad would’ve been on Saturday.
“He would probably be at the gym right now training someone,” Mathis Jr. said. “The one thing my dad really liked was taking some young kid and making that kid into a champion. He loved working with and developing kids and teaching them to become a fighter.”
Kevin “KP” Porter, Leon Spinks, Michael Dokes to name a few more
Mathis Jr. was not the only successful heavyweight boxer to come out of Pride. Kevin “KP” Porter also had a long and successful pro career in the heavyweight division. During his professional career Porter defeated former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and also fought some of the bigger-name heavyweights of the era like Andrew Golota, Greg Page, Michael Dokes and former Olympic champion Henry Tillman.
The reunion also fanned the flames of some of the boxers wanting to see a Pride comeback.
“I want to bring Pride back,” said Sugar Ray Collins. “I’d like to bring it back and have amateurs, pros and MMA fighters. I’d love to see it come back.”
The weather has been hot and the laps have been even hotter this summer in the Super Late Model division at Berlin Raceway, where Wyoming’s Brian Campbell is looking to win a third consecutive track championship this season.
A 25-year racing veteran at Berlin, Campbell is part of a large group of drivers who are in hot pursuit of the Super Late Model title at Berlin. Heading into this weekend’s race, Campbell is in second place, 41 points behind leader Austin Hull of Belmont, who’s in first place with 948 points.
“It’s been closer this year than it has been in the past,” Campbell said. “There are a lot of good drivers this year like Austin Hull, Terry Senneker and Tyler Rycenga.”
Campbell, who’s closing in on 100 career wins, has experienced some highs and lows in what has been a competitive first half of the season at Berlin.
“I’ve had my ups and downs this year,” Campbell said. “I’ve led the points, been second in points, been third in points. It’s been a rollercoaster of a season.”
Terry Senneker of Wayland is third in points, 12 behind Campbell in third place with 895. Tyler Lupton of Clarkston is fourth with 888, Joe Bush of Hastings, fifth at 837, Andrew Scheid of Sparta, sixth with 834, Dylan Stovall of Wayland, seventh at 820, Tyler Rycenga of Allendale, eighth with 772, Evan Szotko of Coopersville, ninth at 743 and Ken Wobma of Rockford rounds out the Top 10 in the Super Late Model Division with 639 points.
Christmas in July
This week three of the main divisions will be racing at Berlin Raceway’s Christmas in July event. Along with the Super Late Models, the Sportsman and 4-cylinders will be taking to the track along with a VROA race.
In the 4-cylinder division, Justin Roelofs of Ravenna is in first place with 1,220 points. Chase Roelofs of Allendale is in second place with 1,107 points, while Hunter Wiersma of Coopersville, third at 1,094 points in what is another competitive division. Dave Avink is in fourth place with 940 points, while Blake Huitema of Grandville, at 934 points and rookie Tyler Westveld of Marne, sixth with 895 points.
In the Sportsman division, Josh Frye of Coopersville is in first place with 946 points, followed by Ryan Holtzlander of Muskegon, 901 points, Brian Thome of Kent City, 886, Kevin Ford of Coopersville, 881 and Korey Ensing of Hudsonville, 864 in fifth place. Brian Tillema of Hastings is sixth with 861 points, Tom Thomas of Grandville, seventh, 793 points, Scott Baker of Grand Rapids, eighth at 778, Corey Holtzlander of Grant, ninth, 761 and Allen Davis of Wyoming rounds out the Top 10 with 702 points.
Campbell is looking to make up some ground on Hull in the Super Late Model race. Racing is a family affair for Campbell, whose father Fred began his racing career at Berlin in 1975.
Far right, Wyoming Super Late Model driver Brian Campbell and crew inspect his car at Berlin Raceway. (WKTV Photo by Greg Chrapek)
All in the Family
“My dad got me into it,” Campbell said. “My dad started in 1975 so I grew up here and in surrounding race tracks in the Midwest with my dad. I graduated college and started racing when I was 21. I helped my dad and followed my dad around and worked with him all the way through grade school, high school and college, and finally got a race car when I was 21.”
Campbell is a veteran in the Super Late Model division and other than his rookie season that’s the only division he has raced in during his career.
Super Late Model driver Brian Campbell’s car. (WKTV Photo by Greg Chrapek)
A number of highlights
Campbell’s career has been a successful one with a number of highlights.
“I’ve got four track championships out here,” Campbell said. “I’ve got wins at Bristol, I’ve got wins at Nashville, I’ve got wins at Milwaukee Mile, a couple of different traveling championships, so I’ve been fairly successful around the Midwest.”
A big part of that success has been Campbell’s team that consists of his father Fred, Henry Rosendall, Henry Fellows and Kevin DeGood.
“They run the show,” Campbell said. “I just drive.”
A home track advantage for Campbell
Campbell especially enjoys his home track at Berlin Raceway. This Saturday, July 26, he invites fans to get to the track early.
“Fans should get here early because there is going to be an autograph session on the front stretch,” Campbell said. “That will be fun for the kids to come down and get autographs. The whole front section will be packed with fans, and then from there it will be a good night of racing.”
The autograph session begins at 6 p.m. before the races. Racing starts at 6:30 p.m. The band Sounds Familiar will perform for fans live after the races.
By Geoff Kimmerly MHSAA.com senior editor greer@wktv.org
A primary mission of the MHSAA’s 100-year anniversary has been to connect today’s athletes, administrators, coaches, game officials and spectators with their roles in the ever-growing story of school sports in Michigan.
Indeed, together, we are the MHSAA.
Over the last 10 months and with today’s 44th and final installment, our “Century of School Sports” series also has sought to tell a deeper and more detailed story of how the MHSAA has arrived at this moment. As our work becomes new with the start of every school year, and with every family experiencing educational athletics for the first time, it’s a story that must always be updated, expanded and retold.
But at the heart of most organizations is a fundamental statement. So to close this celebration, we below break down what is literally the “About” of the MHSAA – as we prepare to build on these values in adding to our story again and again during the century to come.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation …
Although the MHSAA has built a thriving relationship with the Michigan Department of Education over the last many decades – and, in fact, the state superintendent or designee has a non-voting position on the Representative Council – the MHSAA also has maintained its autonomy since its start and even before, as a legislative takeover attempt of the former Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association led to the MHSAA’s formation in December 1924.
The MHSAA was first incorporated in 1972 and is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization. In the most basic terms, as a non-profit corporation the MHSAA must reinvest all revenue it receives back into its mission of administering school sports. Put another way, whatever money the MHSAA makes must be spent to conduct its tournament events and the several other educational, leadership, etc., programs the MHSAA provides for students, coaches, officials and others who contribute to educational athletics.
… of voluntary membership …
Through their boards of education, member schools voluntarily join the MHSAA each and every year, vowing by formal school board resolution to abide by and enforce the MHSAA’s rules for educational athletics. Membership is optional; schools may conduct a complete program of interscholastic athletics and may participate against MHSAA member schools in regular-season competition without joining the MHSAA. But the great majority of high schools in Michigan approve that membership annually.
… by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools …
Over the last several years, the MHSAA has counted about 750 high schools and 800 junior high or middle schools, or elementary schools with 6th-grader participation, among its membership. For 2024-25, those totals were 754 high schools, 777 junior high/middle schools and 63 elementary schools with participating sixth graders.
… which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition.
This drove the original formation of school sports associations across the nation going back to the late 1800s, including the Michigan State Teachers Association’s first inroad into athletic administration in 1895. The MHSAA Handbook, updated annually with rules and other changes voted upon by the Representative Council, is the rulebook for all MHSAA member schools – public and nonpublic – with rules for general topics like student eligibility but also specific to each sport to regulate scheduling and other intricacies.
No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA …
In maintaining that independence noted above, the MHSAA receives no funding from local, state or federal governments. The MHSAA’s income is derived primarily from ticket sales at postseason events, with smaller portions from sponsors and advertising, officials and coaches education registration fees – and again, with all money brought in by the MHSAA going back into those tournament events and programs to support students, athletic directors, coaches and officials.
… which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools.
These have long been points of pride for the MHSAA; membership remains and has been completely free since the mid-1940s, after the end of World War II, and member schools may enter MHSAA Tournaments for free.
Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments …
In adopting and upholding MHSAA rules as their own, school districts agree to promote a standard of competitive equity necessary to keep MHSAA Tournament events fair for all involved.
… which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Over the last 35 years, attendance at MHSAA Tournament events has reached at least 1.1 million spectators annually (not counting the COVID-affected 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years), with a high of 1.68 million during the 2005-06 school year. Attendance during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years began climbing again toward 1.5 million spectators, those last two years’ ticket totals ranking among the highest over the last 15.
School sports have a massive footprint in Michigan, which has a population just above 10 million residents. Sure, attendance figures likely count the same spectators several times – the same person might buy tickets for several rounds of several sports over the course of a school year – but a one-to-one comparison using athlete totals also is powerful.
Conservatively, Michigan has at least 160,000 high school athletes. Add in parents of those athletes, grandparents, other relatives with significant interest, and that’s a huge block – let’s say at least 5 percent of the state’s population have some current tie to the athletes playing at the local high school. That’s not even covering athletes at MHSAA junior highs and middle schools, coaches and athletic directors at all levels, and more than 8,000 game officials who make those contests possible. And our groups of athletes are rolling over at least every four years, meaning many tens of thousands more have had at least recent direct contact as participants in our programs.
The MHSAA always has provided opportunities to compete and win championships, but more importantly to learn life lessons gleaned from simply taking part in the process.
This work is important; its impact is significant. And just as our predecessors surely felt beginning this endeavor 100 years ago, we remain eager and enthused to play our part.
Detroit Lions fans will now be able to attend select away games thanks to new nonstop flights through Delta Air Lines at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
The airline announced today it will offer roundtrip tickets to five Lions away games, as well as one University of Michigan away game. Lions season tickets are sold out for 2025-2026 and single tickets are extremely limited, so the move will allow fans to more easily see their beloved team at stadiums across the country.
“We’re excited to offer these flights to fans for what we hope will be another winning season of Lions football,” Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority President and CEO Tory Richardson said. “With home games at Ford Field in high demand, our partners at Delta are making it easier than ever for West Michiganders to catch the Lions in action at five exciting away game destinations. Delta has also added a special opportunity for Wolverines to see their team at an early game in Oklahoma.
“We appreciate Delta’s continued investment in our community and can’t wait to touch down across the country for the Detroit Lions.”
Tickets are on sale at Delta.com for the full lineup, including:
University of Michigan at Oklahoma, departing Sept. 5 returning Sept. 7
Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens, departing Sept. 22 returning Sept. 23
Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs, departing Oct. 11 returning Oct. 13
Detroit Lions at Washington Commanders, departing Nov. 8 returning Nov. 10
Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles, departing Nov. 15 returning Nov. 17
Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Rams, departing Dec. 12 returning Dec. 15
“From kickoff to the final down, Delta is making it easier than ever for Detroit fans to get in on the action – with new, nonstop routes in Grand Rapids and extra capacity for key games,” said Amy Martin – Vice President North America Network Planning. “We know our Michigan customers love their teams, so we have timed these flights to make it faster and easier to get them to the games that matter most.”
Delta recently expanded its connectivity at the Ford International Airport with nonstop service to Orlando International Airport (MCO) starting December 2025. It currently has four additional nonstop flights from the Ford International Airport, connecting travelers to hundreds of destinations across the world.
As the leading global airline, Delta served more than 200 million passengers in 2024 and was recently ranked the No. 1 airline on JUST Capital and CNBC.
By Cris Greer Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
WKTV Hosts Bob Serulla and Jordan Shimmell (former Golden Gloves champion) walk you through the Michigan Golden Gloves Championships from the West Michigan Finals through the State Finals at Aquinas College in this exciting Friday Night Highlights Golden Gloves edition PART 2.
Five-time Michigan Golden Gloves champion Junior Rios joins in on the play-by-play analysis as well.
PART 2 features the best bouts of the Championships, boxer interviews, and a look inside the MGGA (Michigan Golden Gloves Association) Boxing Gym. You’ll want to watch every bit of this boxing show.
Our WKTV Truck crew got great highlights of the Golden Gloves Championships just for you!
WKTV Hosts Bob Serulla (left) and Jordan Shimmell are joined by boxer Junior Rios.
By Cris Greer Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
WKTV Hosts and Boxing Announcers Bob Serulla and Jordan Shimmell walk you through the Michigan Golden Gloves Championships from the West Michigan Finals through the State Finals in this exciting Friday Night Highlights Golden Gloves edition PART 1.
PART 1 features the best bouts of the Championships, some boxer interviews, a look inside the La Casa Boxing Club, including a chat with owner Anbrocio Ledesma, and an interview with guest boxer Junior Rios. You’ll want to watch every bit of this show.
Our WKTV Truck crew got great highlights of the Golden Gloves Championships just for you. Part 2 will be available soon. Stay tuned!
Look for more great WKTV Golden Gloves coverage in the future!
Two years ago, East Kentwood High School graduate and current professional boxer Justin Lacey-Pierce was winding down his amateur career with a Michigan Golden Gloves state championship. Last Saturday evening at Aquinas College, a pair of East Kentwood graduates stepped up and carried on Lacey-Pierce’s Golden Gloves legacy by winning state championships at the 2025 Michigan Golden Gloves state championships.
Ontess Toliver-James and Aiden Baker of East Kentwood were two of the newly-minted state champions at the state finals that took place at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of Aquinas College.
East Kentwood graduate Ontess Toliver-James (center, with trophy) celebrates his Golden Gloves win with coaches and staff from Blues Gym. 2025 (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Toliver-James, boxing out of Blues Gym, located at 4248 Kalamazoo Ave. Se, won his title in the 176-pound Elite Novice Division. Coming out strong from the opening bell, Toliver-James took control of the bout with Zameer Rawls-Wallace as he peppered his opponent with body shots in the early going. The constant barrage of punches paid off in the second round when the referee stopped the contest. Toliver-James who reached the finals after winning his semifinal match the day before, came out with a little different plan for his title match.
“Yesterday I tired myself out,” Toliver-James said. “I was throwing too much so I slowed myself down and paced myself a little bit. I read my opponent and picked my punches.”
The win was his third in three bouts which is even more impressive considering that Toliver-James has only been training for boxing and picked up the sport just four weeks ago.
“I feel like anything is possible,” Toliver-James said. “I’m going to train hard and hopefully keep going along undefeated and get some more trophies under my belt.”
Toliver-James played football and basketball growing up, but just decided to start boxing a little over a month ago. He also knows about the Kentwood boxing legacy and especially about the accomplishments in the ring of Lacey-Pierce.
“I actually went to school with him (Lacey-Pierce)” Toliver-James said. “I was in school with him since elementary school. That’s actually another one of my motivations. I just recently saw a couple of posts of him on Facebook. Man, he’s doing good in the pros.”
In the next bout Kentwood’s second boxer, Aiden Baker, stepped into the ring and also brought home a state championship. Boxing in the 198-plus Elite Novice weight class, Baker defeated Santorie Jenkins of Team Boss when the referee stopped the contest in the third round.
East Kentwood graduate Aiden Baker won the 198-pound title at the Golden Gloves State Championships. 2025 (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Baker, who won a West Michigan title last month, kept constant pressure on Jenkins from the opening bell and wore his opponent down with a steady barrage of punches. This year’s Golden Gloves was the first of his career for Baker who began boxing three years ago.
“I started training at MGGA (Michigan Golden Gloves Association gym, Grand Rapids) and they essentially built me from scratch,” Baker said. “My older brother taught me how to fight and then eventually I went into the gym. From there, I just started to fall in love with the sport and take it seriously.”
Floyd Mayweather Sr. sparks Siderio Mitchell to state title
A Grand Rapids boxer with a famous relative claimed one of those open division titles. Siderio Mitchell of MGGA Grand Rapids captured the 141-pound Open Division title with a decision against King Gildersleve of Flint Town Boxing Club. Displaying lightning hand quickness and excellent footwork, Mitchell won his first state title in a fashion that was sure to make his mentor Floyd Mayweather Sr. proud.
“I’d say a little bit of everything was working great for me tonight,” Mitchell said. “Shout out to coaches, shout out to my Uncle Floyd (Sr.), shout out to my family, they mean everything to me. My Uncle Floyd actually got me started in boxing.”
Comstock Park grad Emanuel Jimenez wins state title at 143 pounds
Toliver-James was not the only boxer out of Blues Gym that captured a state title. In the first bout of the evening, Emanuel Jimenez, a student at Comstock Park High School, won the 143-pound Junior Novice title when the referee stopped the contest in the second round against Carter Cobb of MGGA.
Jimenez, who just turned 18 years old, began training for the Golden Gloves six months ago at Blue Gym. A fan of Mexican boxing champion Canelo Alvarez, Jimenez fought in a style that would’ve made Alvarez proud as he came out aggressively throwing punches and didn’t stop until the referee stepped in during the second round. The match was the second of Jimenez’s young career as he won his first bout during Friday’s semifinals.
“To be honest I was very nervous,” Jimenez said, “but I just went out there and did my job. I did a better job of pacing myself in this bout. My first fight I just came out swinging, but this time I did a better job of pacing myself.”
Blues Gym head trainer Dino Newville congratulates Emanuel Jimenez on his Golden Gloves title. 2025 (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
Santiago wins state crown at 187-pound Elite Novice
Floyd Santiago of MGGA Grand Rapids won the 187-pound Elite Novice title in a walkover.
Also winning titles in the Elite Novice Division were Mohammad Aliyar of Kalamazoo United, who won the 143-pound Elite Novice title, Hussam Ammar of Saginaw Boxing club (165-pound Elite Novice champion), and United States Navy veteran Nathaniel Williams of AAA boxing club (154-pound Elite Novice title).
A pair of Grand Rapids-area boxers claimed state titles in the open division.
Floyd Mayweather Sr. sparks Siderio Mitchell to state title;
A Grand Rapids boxer with a famous relative claimed one of those open division titles. Siderio Mitchell of MGGA Grand Rapids captured the 141-pound Open Division title with a decision against King Gildersleve of Flint Town Boxing Club. Displaying lightning hand quickness and excellent footwork, Mitchell won his first state title in a fashion that was sure to make his mentor Floyd Mayweather Sr. proud.
“I’d say a little bit of everything was working great for me tonight,” Mitchell said. “Shout out to coaches, shout out to my Uncle Floyd (Sr.), shout out to my family, they mean everything to me. My Uncle Floyd actually got me started in boxing.”
Mercado wins state title at 121-pounds Elite Open; fifth state championship
Boxing out of the La Casa Boxing Club, Guillermo Mercado won the state title in the 121 Elite Open Division as he claimed a decision against Aarkeyse Higdon of Lansing Crown Boxing Club. The state title was the fifth for Mercado, who displayed plenty of heart and boxing ability in grinding out the win against a tough opponent in one of the most entertaining matches of the evening.
Kalamazoo’s Gentle Gibson wins second-consecutive state title
In the 132-pound Open Division, Gentle Gibson of Kalamazoo Boxing won a decision against Nicolas Alonzi of Flint Town Boxing Club. Gibson won his second consecutive state title in impressive fashion as he recorded a pair of standing-eight counts on his way to victory. The state title was the third overall for Gibson who finished in third place at last year’s national Golden Gloves tournament where all of this year’s champions are headed.
“He (Alonzi) was tough,” Gibson said. “I really thought I was going to stop him, but he could take a punch. He didn’t know I had power like that. I can box and I have power. I can do both and I’m still getting better.”
Four more Open Division state champions were also crowned. Evan Jackson of Kalamazoo Boxing won the title at 154 pounds. Kyree Wiggins of Flint Town boxing won at 165-pound Elite Open, while Joseph McDaye of Kalamazoo Westside Boxing club won at 175-pound Elite Open. In the final bout of the evening, Sardius Simmons won his sixth state championship in the 198-plus Elite Open in a classic matchup against Maurice Davis, who came in as a former state champion as well.
A total of five boxers in the Open Division were also crowned as uncontested Open champions. Those five champions, who will head to the Golden Gloves nationals, included Michael Chester of Saginaw Boxing Club at 176 pounds, Solomon Jagun of Gideon Boxing Club (187 pounds), Zoe Hicks of Lansing Team Glass (112-pound Elite Open Female Division), Sarah Batenburg of MGGA Grand Rapids (132-pound Elite Open Female Division), and Asha Lake of Team Glass (143-pound Elite Open Female Division).
Uncontested Novice champions included Jaquan Wilson of Lansing Crown boxing at 110-pounds, Daniel Espinoza of Gideon Boxing (121-pounds), Davone Jones of Crown Boxing (132 pounds), Monta Perkins of Kalamazoo Boxing (198-pounds), and in the female Novice Division Emily Martinez of Eli J Boxing (132-pounds), Tamika Lofton of Lansing Team Glass (143-pounds), and Johana Lugo of United Boxing Club (154-pounds).
When it comes to Golden Gloves boxing in the Wyoming and southern Kent County area, few people are as tuned into the sport as Anbrocio Ledesma.
A longtime boxing trainer in the Wyoming area who has taught many young boxers the fundamentals of the sport, Ledesma is currently expanding his teaching of the sport through his La Casa Boxing Club, located at 2241 84th St. in Byron Center.
Home to some of the most successful boxers in the Grand Rapids area, the gym is well represented at this weekend’s Michigan Golden Gloves State Finals that pits the champions and runners-up from the West side tournament up against the champions and runners-up from the East.
Aquinas College hosting Golden Gloves this weekend
The 2025 Michigan Golden Gloves State Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3 at Aquinas College’s Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center in Grand Rapids. Doors open at 6 p.m. both days with boxing starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.
Representing La Casa Boxing Club will be Guillermo Mercado and Junior Rios in the Elite Open Division, while Harrison Hevelhurst will box in the Elite Novice Division.
La Casa Boxing Club’s Junior Rios. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
A former Golden Gloves boxer himself, Ledesma began his coaching career in Wyoming at the Pride Boxing Club which was located just north of 28th St. in Wyoming.
“I got into training boxers in my mid 20’s,” Ledesma said. “I actually had a couple of older kids who just wanted just to train, not to compete. I started training them at home, then they had a couple cousins come over and it kind of snowballed into that. Then my wife’s uncle took on a gym in Wyoming, called Wyoming Pride, back in the early 2000’s. I found out about that and took on a coaching responsibility there for the better of seven to ten years.”
La Casa Boxing Club’s Guillermo Mercado. (WKTV/Greg Chrapek)
After the Pride gym closed, Ledesma began training boxers in a gym that he named the LaCasa Boxing Club, and that he put together in a garage next to his home.
“After Wyoming Pride closed down I stuck around for a little bit longer,” Ledesma said. “We ended up at another spot for a year and half, two years, but at that time I always trained some separate individual kids that wanted individual work at my house in my garage. The journey of my gym started back at my home. That’s why it’s called La Casa. Basically I started training a couple of my older kids.”
The next step in the evolution of La Casa Boxing came when he moved to the current location in Byron Center.
“I took on opening up this gym back in 2023 and that’s where I am now,” Ledesma said. “I’ve had this portion of my gym here in Byron Center for about two years now. Now we’re just here trying to build out here and target the outskirts of the Wyoming area and the Byron Center area.”
La Casa Boxing Club Owner Anbrocio Ledesma (right) and Coach Jackson. (Photo Courtesy, Jaylah Lewis)
Over the years, Ledesma has trained several boxers who have accomplished plenty during their amateur careers. Two of the most successful boxers that have trained under him are Rios and Mercado who are still adding to their legacies.
“Guillermo and Junior have been around the Golden Gloves for some years now,” Ledesma said. “They are past state champs who went on to the nationals several times. Coming through Wyoming Pride we had quite a few state champs as well. I’ve been around some really talented and dedicated fighters.”
La Casa Boxing Club Supplies. (Photo Courtesy, Jaylah Lewis)
This year the gym has a total of 6-10 boxers that come in and train regularly. The gym had three boxers enter the West Michigan Golden Gloves and all three qualified for the upcoming state finals.
With the gym is still relatively new to the Byron Center location, Ledesma has been working at getting the word out. Not only does the gym plan on increasing the numbers of boxers, but it also serves as a place for local youth to come and work out even if they have no desire to become competitive boxers.
“We’re in the midst right now of trying to reach out to the community,” Ledesma said. “We are waiting to hear back from the school systems and then just putting up signs and flyers around the community. Hopefully word of mouth can start spreading around and even if the kids don’t want to come here and compete, that’s not what we’re about. We’re just offering a different type of exercise. A different way they can vent their frustrations. Just kind of get out and breathe fresh air and exercise at the same time.”
Ledesma is looking for the gym to grow and expand as much as possible in its new locations.
“I’m hoping the gym evolves into where there is no limit for us,” Ledesma said. “They don’t have anything like this out here. I’m hoping that we get 10-to-12 fighters out of the gym next year. More importantly, I want it to be in the community and advertised as a boxing, fitness club. It’s not necessarily that you are going to join this gym and we are going to turn you into a boxer.”
Boxers from all across West Michigan descended into the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of Aquinas College for the 2025 West Michigan Golden Gloves Finals this past Saturday and a large crowd was treated to four hours of outstanding action.
A total of 16 bouts were on the card and nearly every one provided plenty of action as boxers fought it out for West Michigan titles and the opportunity to advance to the state finals at Aquinas College May 2 and 3.
Wyoming’s PK Boxing Gym sparkles
Locally, PK Boxing Gym of Wyoming enjoyed a productive night. PK Boxing had two boxers in the finals and the duo actually fought in back-to-back matches. In a pair of hard-fought matches, Sebastian Romo and Jose Jimenez-Gonzalez both came away winning decisions and West Michigan titles.
PK Boxing teammates Jose Jimenez-Gonzalez (third from left) and Sebastian Romo (fourth from left) celebrate with teammates and coaches following their wins at the West Michigan Golden Gloves Finals. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Boxing in the 127-pound Youth Novice Division, Romo defeated Teodocio Magana of the Crown Boxing Club of Lansing. The bout was an intense struggle from beginning to end.
“It was exciting”, said Romo, a student at Jenison High School. “I love everything about boxing. It was intense. It was a good fight. I thought it was a war and I had a good time.”
Romo has been boxing for three years, and this is his first time competing at Golden Gloves. He became interested in boxing while watching the sport with his family growing up.
“I was basically just watching a lot of fights at home with my dad and my family,” Romo said. “We watched a popular fighter, Canelo Alvarez, and after that I wanted to start boxing.”
In the following bout in the 147-pound Youth Novice Division, Jimenez-Gonzalez defeated Jeremiah Henry, also from Crown Boxing, in another close, hard-fought match.
A student at Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy, Jimenez-Gonzalez has been boxing for a short time and his match in the Golden Gloves was the first of his career.
“I was nervous at first, but once I got in there, I was ready for war,” Jimenez-Gonzalez said. “It was exciting. My body shots were working the best, mainly my uppercuts.”
Like his teammate, Jimenez-Gonzalez grew up watching boxing and especially Canelo Alvarez.
“As a youngster I used to watch a lot of fights”, Jimenez-Gonzalez said, “especially Canelo. My grandpa used to fight, too. He never made it pro, but I wanted to follow his lead.”
Winning their bouts back-to-back was extra special for the teammates.
“We talked about it a lot,” Romo said. “It was fun to do it back-to-back.”
Floyd Santiago back
While Romo and Jimenez-Gonzalez were a pair of younger boxers making an initial name for themselves, Floyd Santiago was an older boxer who was back in the action after a lengthy span away from the sport. Boxing out of the Michigan Golden Gloves Association (MGGA) gym in Grand Rapids, Santiago was back in the Golden Gloves for the first time in eight years. Santiago showed no signs of any rust after the long time away from boxing as he won the 187-pound Elite Novice title by stopping Matt Rogein of Jet Boxing from Okemos.
Floyd Santiago of MGGA Grand Rapids won the 187-pound Elite Novice title after an eight-year layoff from boxing. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Santiago displayed a relentless style piling up points and also recording a standing eight count in his victory. Getting the win after eight years of missing the sport was extra special for Santiago who thought about boxing the entire time.
“It feels great,” Santiago said. “Even through the eight years I had stopped boxing, I was doing body building, so I built up that discipline to be able to consistently do something every single day. But the whole time that I stopped boxing, I just regretted it. I love boxing so much. I regretted stopping. So now I’ve been back for six months, and I’ve been able to do this. It’s pretty great.”
In the Elite Open Division, another MGGA boxer, Siderio Mitchell (see below), came away with a championship. Boxing in the 143-pound Open Division weight class, Mitchell met a familiar face in the finals in his teammate from MGGA, Mike Guzman. In one of the most crowd-pleasing matches of the evening, Mitchell won a decision against his MGGA teammate in a bout that was full of action for all three rounds.
Siderio Mitchell of MGGA Grand Rapids defeated teammate Mike Guzman in the 143-pound Elite Open Division final. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
The two boxers were meeting for the first time in an actual match despite having sparred each other countless times at the MGGA gym.
“I probably have over a hundred rounds sparring with him,” Mitchell said. “He’s pretty good, that’s why I sparred him a lot. I told myself even though I sparred him this way, maybe I switch it up. I switched it up a few times in sparring, but tonight, I really need to switch it up.”
The plan worked out as Mitchell delivered his shots and avoided getting caught.
“I knew I couldn’t go out there and fight him the same way I did in sparring because he is going to expect that,” Mitchell said. “So when he was expecting to trade punches; boom, boom, boom, I hit him, then I got out the way. He wasn’t expecting that. Then the last 10 seconds, I know he’s a brawler. Last year I saw him brawling. He’s really good at that and he won most of those, but I made sure I hit and got out the way, finishing up my last 10 seconds doing laps around the ring and I won it. I did it.”
Another West Michigan title for Kalamazoo’s Gentle Gibson
The 132-pound Open Division final between Gentle Gibson of the Kalamazoo Boxing Club and Aarkeyse Higdon of Crown Boxing was another match that had the fans involved. Gibson, who won a state title last year, added a West Michigan title this year as he won in the second round on a referee stoppage.
The final two bouts in the Open Division also were won by boxers from the Kalamazoo Boxing Club. In the 154-pound weight class Evan Jackson defeated Alejandro Hernandez of Anahuac Boxing while in the 165-pound open final Jermont Reece defeated Joseph McDaye of Westside Boxing in Kalamazoo.
In the Elite Novice Division, Davone Jones of Crown Boxing beat Harrison Hevelhurst of LaCasa Boxing Club in the 132-pound weight class. At 143 pounds Mohammad Aliyar of United Boxing Club defeated Mekhi Know of Muskegon TCB. At 154-pouonds in the Elite Novice Division Carlito Aggers of Kalamazoo Boxing defeated Mateo Diaz of Sakwamdo Boxing Club of Holland. Ontess Toliver of Blue Gym in Grand Rapids beat Joe L. Johnson of Crown Boxing at 176 pounds.
In the 165-pound Elite Novice Division, Tommy Watts of TCB Boxing of Muskegon defeated Nate Dotson of Crown Boxing. In the 198-pound Elite Novice Division, Monta Perkins of Kalamazoo Boxing defeated D’Angelo Williams of Team Glass Boxing of Lansing, while in the 198-plus Elite Division, Aiden Baker of MGGA defeated Robert Lathan of Kalamazoo Boxing.
In the long Bantam Novice Division match of the evening, Ricardo Emiliano of Westside Boxing defeated Ethan Edmonds of Crown Boxing, and in the lone Junior Novice Division bout, Tayshon Whitfield of Crown Boxing beat Ronald Salvador of Eli J Boxing Club.
The South Christian Sailors girls basketball team found itself in a similar situation to last week’s regional title game, but unlike last week, a late comeback fell just a bucket short.
When a last-second layup attempt bounced off the rim with no time remaining on the clock, the Sailors saw a memorable state tournament run end with a 39-37 loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic in the Division 2 state quarterfinal game at Unity Christian.
Similar to the regional title game against Vicksburg, South Christian found itself facing a seven-point deficit with five minutes remaining. Just like the regional final, the Sailors mounted a furious comeback led by their defense. South Christian limited West Catholic to just two free throws in the final five minutes. Those free throws, however, proved just enough for West Catholic to hold off the determined Sailors.
“They don’t ever quit,” said South Christian Coach Erika Brown, about her player. “We just couldn’t connect on the offensive end like we usually do and it didn’t help missing our free throws tonight either. It was just one of those games where time just ran out on us.”
The game was a close, defensive struggle throughout. South Christian was up 9-7 at the end of the first quarter and took a 20-18 lead into halftime.
“We knew it was going to be a grind-out battle against a conference opponent,” said West Catholic Coach Derek Paiz. “We just wanted to come out here and execute on offense. I thought they (South Christian) did a really good job of switching between man and two-three zone. That kind of threw us off and held us below our season average.”
South Christian’s Lizzie Wolthuis (3) prepares to pass during the state quarterfinal game. (Photo Courtesy, Greg Chrapek)
Sailors up by three in the third until West Catholic run
The Sailors were up 28-25 midway through the third quarter before West Catholic went on a scoring spurt. The Falcons closed out the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 33-28 lead into the fourth quarter.
West Catholic upped the lead to 37-30 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before South Christian ramped up the intensity on the defensive side of the floor and began to create turnovers.
A bucket by Abby Prins cut the West lead to 37-32 with 3:54 remaining in the game. With 2:17 left, the Sailor defense forced another turnover, which led to a drive to the bucket by Sophia Prins. She was fouled and added the free throw to trim the Falcon lead to two.
With 1:44 remaining, West’s Elish Dykstra split a pair of free throws to put the Falcons up 38-35. South, however, trimmed the deficit to a single point with 57 seconds remaining in the game when Sophia Prins drained a pair of free throws.
The Sailor defense forced a turnover with 50 seconds remaining in the game, but came up empty on the ensuing possession. Abby Prins came up with a steal for the Sailors with 28 seconds remaining, but the Sailors lost possession with seven seconds remaining in the game.
Sailors’ last-second layup bounces out
West Catholic’s Anna Ignatoski split a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining giving the Sailors one final opportunity to tie or take the lead, but a last-second layup attempt bounced off the rim.
Sophia Prins South Christian with 12 points, followed by sophomore Meredith Helmus, 10 and freshman Natalie Wolthuis with five.
South Christian’s Kamryn Boonstra (10) and Meredith Helmus (14) prepare on defense during the state quarterfinal game. (Photo Courtesy, Greg Chrapek)
South Christian finished the season at 24-3, and shared the OK Gold with West Catholic, both teams at 11-1 in the conference.
“This season was pretty special,” Brown said. “With the group of girls that we have and coming off the season last year where we started that run at the end. We had some battles early in the season, but the run at the end just inspired us for this year. It’s one thing to sit down and talk about your dreams at the beginning of the season, but it’s another thing to actually work at the process of it and enjoy the process because it’s a long season.
“The girls bought into that this year and that alone speaks testament to how these girls are as individuals on and off the court. The whole journey was just fantastic.”
While the loss marked the end of the careers for South Christian seniors Kamryn Boonstra, Lily Nitz, Brianna Knott and Kaylee Quist, the bulk of the team is due back next season. The outcome was not what the Sailors wanted, but the state tournament run will propel the team into what should be another memorable season next winter.
“As a coach, when you look ahead that gets you excited about the future,” Brown explained. “Once this wears off, the hurt of this game wears off, it will sink into them that they made a run that was something special and they can make a comeback next year.”
The Falcons, who improved to 23-3, were led in scoring by senior Elisha Dykstra with 13 points.
The Tri-unity boys basketball team poses right after winning another Division 4 state championship. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler accepts the Division 4 state title boys basketball trophy from MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity’s Keaton Blanker lays one in during his team’s Division 4 state title win at MSU. Blanker led with 12 points. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity senior Noah Silverton on defense during his team’s Division 4 state title win. Silverton scored 11 points. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity fans cheer on their Division 4 state champs at the Breslin Center. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity’s Joey Mellon scored nine points in the championship game. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Joey Mellon had nine points and eight rebounds while nursing a knee injury in the championship game. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Clayton Rowlader hits a three during the championship game at MSU. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity’s Keaton Blanker quickly takes the ball down court during the title game at MSU. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity boys basketball team celebrates Division 4 state championship at school. (Photo Courtesy, Katlyn Keeler)
As the clock struck zero on his remarkable 38-year career coaching at Tri-unity Christian, Mark Keeler could finally let it all soak in at the Michigan State University Breslin Center Saturday as his Defenders captured back-to-back state championships for the first time in school history with a 49-32 win over Fowler.
Coach Keeler already has the court at Tri-unity named in his honor, but he stamped his legacy on the court at the Breslin Center. He concludes his career with a 20-10 record at the home of the Michigan State University Spartans.
“It’s surreal,” said Keeler, who’ll retire as one of Michigan’s most decorated high school basketball coaches. “I was really happy with the way they played.
“I was blessed by the Lord; nobody will convince me otherwise. For me, as a coach, we try to reflect Jesus in what we do. We are humans, so sometimes we lose it and don’t do the right things, but that doesn’t mean you don’t stop working at it; that’s the key: don’t quit.”
Keeler cemented at third statewide on all-time wins list Keeler concludes his career with a 721-218 record, placing him third on the all-time wins list. Additionally, he will finish with 13 appearances in the state finals, which ranks him second all-time, behind the legendary River Rouge Coach Lofton Greene, who holds the record with 17 appearances. Keeler retires with seven state championships.
Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler accepts the Division 4 state title boys basketball trophy from MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Defense has been the calling card for a Keeler-led team since the start, and it’s the type of play that led Tri-unity back to the state finals for the fifth consecutive time. The Defenders allowed only 39.4 points per game on their way to a 27-2 record this season.
“This is the best defensive team I’ve ever coached,” Keeler said.
The matchup against Fowler was a rematch of Tri-unity’s second game of the season on December 3, ending with a 62-59 Fowler win.
A strong 11-0 start
Tri-unity started strong, quickly jumping out to an 11-0 lead. It took Fowler until 3:27 remaining in the first quarter to score their first points of the game off a Jacob Halfmann trey. The Defenders rebounded well and limited the shots from the Eagles, but took only a five-point lead into the second quarter as the Eagles held firm on the defensive side and added another three-point shot by Aaron Simon to end the first at 11-6.
“I don’t think teams are ready for our defense at the beginning of games,” Keeler said.
Tri-unity answered back swiftly with a 13-0 run to start the second frame.
Tri-unity’s Keaton Blanker quickly takes the ball down court during the title game at MSU. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Keaton Blanker led the way with 12 points
Senior captain Keaton Blanker led the charge in that second quarter and for the game leading all scorers with 12 points, while adding five rebounds, five assists and four steals in the final game of a career that ended with three state championships.
“Our biggest emphasis was playing 32 minutes,” Blanker said. “We don’t stop fighting until that final buzzer, and we did that. I’m just so happy for all us players.”
Up by 18 in the second quarter
The Defenders led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter before Fowler scored seven unanswered points including their first ones in the paint with 2:05 remaining in the half.
Blanker ended the half with two free throws, giving Tri-unity a 28-16 halftime lead.
If the Defenders had a weakness on the season, it was the third quarter. In the regional final game against Kalamazoo Phoenix, Tri-unity fumbled an 18-point lead.
“We’ve had letups in the past, and it almost cost us against Kalamazoo Phoenix,” Keeler said. “Having those games helped us. I can point it out when we let up on defense and let them back in the game. But we didn’t let up and we played great defense all the way through.”
Fowler begins closing gap near the end
Fowler closed the gap to within nine points with 3:07 left in the game, but the Defenders managed to slow down the pace. With two minutes remaining, junior guard Clayton Rowlader made a three-pointer to extend their lead to 12. Thirty seconds later, Rowlader hit another three to seal the victory, allowing Keeler to let out a sigh of relief.
Fowler finished 5-26 from beyond the arc in a challenging shooting game, scoring only 16 points from the paint while shooting 27.7 percent from the field.
Senior center Joey Mellon had nine points and eight rebounds all while nursing a knee injury.
“I can’t say enough good things about that young man (Mellon); him and Keaton have been phenomenal leaders,” Keeler said. “I give them all the credit as captains. I had great senior leadership and when you have good senior leadership good things happen.”
Senior Noah Silverton added 11 points in his final game.
“What a great group of boys to coach my last year, they were very coachable, they were a great group.”
It all began in 1983 for Keeler
Keeler’s coaching career at Tri-unity began during the 1983-1984 season, when the program started with an eighth and ninth-grade team. Coach Keeler became a varsity coach for the first time during 1985-1986 season.
“That first year we got drilled a few times,” Keeler said with a laugh.
He took a two year break before returning to Tri-unity for the 1991 season and has led the program since.
Tri-unity Athletic Director Evan Przybysz had a front-row seat to many of Keeler’s years at Tri-unity. First, he was a water boy, then, a player winning a state championship, and finally, he worked side-by-side with Coach Keeler, first as an assistant coach and then as athletic director.
“Coach Keeler cared more about your spiritual journey…”
“He’s instilled a culture through the school where so many kids wanted to play basketball for him,” Przybysz said. “He would teach the game of basketball and implement his systems that have been so successful for many years, but ultimately, Coach Keeler cared more about your spiritual journey than your basketball journey.
“He wanted to make sure your relationship was right with the Lord, and that was his number one priority. Basketball gave him that ability and platform to pour into young men and help instill that foundation that when they left Tri-unity, they would become better husbands and fathers one day.”
After a legendary career, Coach Keeler is now ready to embrace retirement. He looks forward to cherishing precious moments with his wife, Cheryl.
“Now that we are retired, she’s stuck with me,” Keeler said. “We spend a lot of time together. I love it, we have a blast.”
Trailing by seven points midway through the fourth quarter of the Division 2 regional championship against Vicksburg, the South Christian girls basketball team was at a crossroads.
They needed to turn things around in a hurry if they were going to continue their state tournament run. The Sailors did just that, as they mounted a furious rally in the final minutes of the game to overtake Vicksburg and claim a regional crown with a 64-57 win.
The win sends them to next Tuesday’s Division 2 state quarterfinal game at Unity Christian where they face Grand Rapids West Catholic at 7 p.m.
South Christian Coach Erika Brown called a timeout during the fourth quarter to remind the team of what they needed to do to accomplish their goal of a regional title and to continue what has been a memorable tournament run.
“We called that timeout and I just said to the girls, this is what you’ve been preparing for all season and it comes down to the will to win,” Brown explained. “That’s what we had to concentrate on. We weren’t doing the little things all game long that we needed to so we needed to really focus on that.
That (Vicksburg) is a good team; a very, very good team. They are well coached and we needed to do everything spot on to give ourselves a chance.”
The Sailors responded to Brown’s words in a big way, trailing 53-46, South Christian closed out the game by outscoring Vicksburg 18-4. Junior guard Sophia Prins played a key role in the rally, coming up with a big steal and bucket to start the run. With 1:40 remaining in the game, Prins delivered a key assist as her pass to Lizzie Wolthuis led to a bucket that put the Sailors up 56-55.
South Christian’s Lizzie Wolthuis (3), who totaled 14 points, drives the baseline against Vicksburg. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Prins then had another key steal and drove the floor for a layup attempts. She was fouled on the play and then sank a pair of free throws upping the lead to 58-55 with 1:16 left.
“That is Sophia our point guard,” Brown said. “She is so physical on both ends of the floor. She is our general, our floor leader. When she gets going the rest of us just follow.”
Six consecutive points near the end to seal the win
Vicksburg cut the margin to 58-57 before the Sailors closed the game out with six consecutive points in the final minute of the game. Four of those points came from Prins, including a pair of key free throws.
“We got down by a little bit, but we just worked super hard and we didn’t give up,” Prins said. “We knew that the game wasn’t over. It was because we love each other and we stuck together.”
The two teams were no stranger to each other as the Sailors and Bulldogs met in the regional title game last season. Vicksburg came out ahead last year with a 49-34 win, and for the Sailors, winning the title this year against the Bulldogs was extra special.
“Last year we lost in regionals to Vicksburg so this was revenge,” Prins said. “We did everything we could to make it to quarterfinals next week. I knew to win this we would have to get deflections and steals and give them the least amount of offensive possessions as possible, and we did just that.”
The game was a back-and-forth struggle throughout. South Christian led 21-13 at the end of the first quarter and was up 36-30 at the half before Vicksburg battled back to take a 49-46 lead heading into the final quarter.
“We knew we were going to get a game of runs with them,” Brown said. “They (Vicksburg) are good three-point shooters and flashers to the hoop and that’s what they did.”
Prins led South Christian with 24 points, including 3, three-point buckets. In all, the Sailors connected on 12 three-point shots. Junior Lizzie Wolthuis converted four treys as part of her 14 points, while senior Lily Nitz scored all nine of her points on treys. Sophomore Meredith Helmus added seven points, followed by freshman Abby Prins with six.
“This title is so special,’ Brown said. “We talk a lot about being family and being connected and what will get you to that victory line is that. This is a special group of girls. From seniors down to our two freshmen on our team. The way our seniors have led this team with grace. Our freshmen have never skipped a beat.
“It’s been a really good journey. I’m so proud of these girls. The fight, the determination, the competitiveness. The outright love they have not only for the game, but for each other. It’s really special.”
Vicksburg, which finished the season with a 23-3 record, was paced in scoring by seniors Scarlett Hasner (26 points) and Makayla Allen (19). The pair was especially effective from long range as they combined for 9 three-point buckets.
South Christian, which improved to 24-2, advance to Tuesday’s quarterfinal to face OK Gold rival West Catholic (22-3). The two teams finished atop the conference at 11-1 each. West Catholic won the first meeting between the two rivals in January by a 62-49 margin, while South Christian won the rematch in February 58-51.
All season long, Tri-unity Christian has used a suffocating defense to get out to a sizable lead to start games. Their quarterfinal matchup against Adrian Lenawee Christian was no different.
The Defenders claimed a 32-12 lead after the first half en route to a 56-43 victory that sends them to the Breslin Center for their sixth consecutive final four appearance.
“This is the best defensive team I have coached,” said Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler, whose program will make its 16th appearance in the final four under his coaching. “I don’t think teams are ready for our defense, and it takes them a while before they can adjust. We’ve done that to a lot of teams where they can’t score against us. The tough part is we get those leads and then we start coasting and let them back in … we need to keep that intensity.”
Tri-unity held Adrian Lenawee Christian to a 26.9 shooting percentage and out rebounded them 36-27. The Defenders also excelled in the paint, outscoring the Cougars 34-8 from in close. Lenawee Christian was averaging 75 points per game throughout their playoff run.
“We played a really good game, we put them on their heels and they could never recover,” Keeler said.
Senior Noah Silverton was tasked with guarding the leading point scorer on the Cougars.
“Noah had to cover their best player; he did a wonderful job. He came in averaging 25 points per game and Noah held him to 17. He matched him step for step.”
Silverton also added 16 points on the offensive side of the floor.
Senior capitan Keaton Blanker once again showed why he is considered one of the best players in Division 4 in the state of Michigan. Blanker delivered in his third career quarterfinal game finishing the night with 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
“Keaton had an unbelievable game, he did great in the playoffs last year as well,” Keeler said.
Tri-unity’s Keaton Blanker from earlier this season. (Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Keeler credits his teams tough non-conference schedule as a huge advantage when it comes tournament time. Tri-unity played multiple Division 2 teams throughout the year, even beating Division 1 East Grand Rapids 61-58 earlier this season. Tri-unity also beat Sparta, who lost to local powerhouse Grand Rapids Catholic Central in its regional final D-2 matchup.
“It definitely helps us, you play tough teams it makes you tough,” Keeler explained.
Tri-unity now hopes to reach a fifth consecutive state championship game in Coach Keeler’s final season.
“I think the kids do care about that, they are a great group of boys, I don’t think I could say enough good things about them. They have been very coachable.”
The No. 1 ranked Defenders (25-2) face No. 2 Crystal Falls Forest Park (25-2) Thursday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing at 5:30 pm. Crystal Falls edged Pickford 45-43 to advance.
The other Division 4 semifinal game is Fowler (24-3) vs, Allen Park Inter-City Baptist (24-3).
Tri-Unity Christian was pushed to the limit, but ultimately secured its 20th regional title with a 62-52 home-court win over Kalamazoo Phoenix Thursday night.
With a comfortable 35-17 lead at halftime, the Defenders hoped to cruise to an easy victory, but had to fend off a Kalamazoo Phoenix team that erased an 18-point deficit.
“There was no quit in them (Kalamazoo Phoenix),” said Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler. “We were up comfortably at halftime, and they came all the way back; they fought back, but then they ran out of gas. That will happen when you need to expend that much energy.”
Falcons get close with 22 in the third
The Falcons used a 22-point third quarter to cut the Tri-unity lead to one early in the fourth. Kalamazoo Phoenix was only down six with 3:30 left before the Defenders finally put them away.
“We didn’t shoot well so we had to win ugly,” Keeler explained. “We were 1-for-15 from the free point line and had 15 turnovers, but we responded by being more patient with our plays.”
Six-foot-seven senior center Joey Mellon led the Defenders with 18 points, adding six rebounds. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity sophomore Cody Osbun had 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity wins 20th regional title in school history. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity wins 20th regional title in school history. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Six-foot-seven senior center Joey Mellon paced the Defenders with 18 points, adding six rebounds. Sophomore Cody Osbun made his presence known with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Tri-unity advances to its sixth consecutive quarterfinal game, a matchup with Adrian Lenawee Christian at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, at Gull Lake High School.
The two teams meet for the second time this season. Tri-unity notched a 58-44 win over them in the Schoolcraft Champions Classic on January 4, the beginning of a 19-game winning streak for the Defenders.
“We’ve met up with them a few times over the years,” Keeler said. “We played a great game against them right after the holiday. They were missing a few players so we expect an even closer game this time; they are a great shooting team.”
With seven sophomores and a freshman on the roster, the East Kentwood girls basketball team has a bright future. That future, however, is actually now as the young Falcons collected a major trophy when they defeated Caledonia 44-40 Friday to win the Division 1 district championship at Byron Center High School.
With the win, the Falcons improved to 13-12 for the season. East Kentwood advances to a regional semifinal game against Forest Hills Northern (22-2) at 7 p.m. Monday at Grandville High School.
Grit and hustle proved key for East Kentwood, and those elements were displayed on defense and the boards where the Falcons scored a number of points off offensive rebounds. They also displayed plenty of poise down the stretch as they connected on some key free throws in the final minutes.
“I think it was our grit that got us over the top,” said East Kentwood Coach Eric Large. “Our sophomores, Logan Richardson and Jazanaye Silva, and we have a freshman, Nevaeh Eubanks, they are so scrappy and gritty that I knew that we could dominate the boards.”
East Kentwood’s Jazanaye Silva secures a rebound in between a pair of Caledonia defenders. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
East Kentwood led 20-17 at the half
Eubanks and Silva came up big on the offensive glass late in the opening half as the Falcons scored some key buckets derived from offensive rebounds to take a 20-17 lead into halftime.
The Falcons kept up the strong work on the offensive boards in the opening minutes of the second half as buckets off rebounds by Sophie Cobb, Jaslynn Ward and Silva enabled the Falcons to open up a 26-21 lead.
East Kentwood’s Sophie Cobb looks for an open teammate during Friday’s district game. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Their lead grew to 29-21 later in the quarter before Caledonia trimmed it to 31-26 at the end of the third after a three ball by Myla Gortmaker and a bucket by Emily Stauffer.
East Kentwood extended the lead to 36-29 midway through the final quarter highlighted by a pair of buckets by Ward.
Caledonia, however, continued to battle back. The Fighting Scots cut the Falcon advantage to 36-34 with 2:29 remaining in the game when Olivia Foster drained a three ball.
Kentwood rebuilt the lead on a bucket by Richardson and then an offensive rebound putback by Silva gave the Falcons a 40-34 advantage with 1:04 left.
Caledonia refused to fold as Sauffer and Foster nailed treys in the final minute of the game. The Falcons, however, were able to stave the Fighting Scots off as sophomore guard Aries Branch connected on four of six free-throw attempts in the final 30 seconds of the game to secure the win.
“This is special because I have so many sophomores playing,” Large said. “My seniors have been hurt all year and I just got Ward back two weeks ago.”
Ward, who has been a consistent source of offense for the Falcons this season, finished the game with a team-high 14 points. Silva and Sophie Cobb both added nine points, followed by Branch with six.
“That’s good for them to get a trophy,” Large said. “We are so young with the sophomores and its good for the seniors to be able to advance and get some hardware. It’s good for the younger kids to understand what winning looks like.”
Playing a rugged schedule both in the conference and in non-league play also helped the young Falcons reach a point where they can bring home a district trophy. Along with playing state-ranked teams Rockford, Grand Haven and Hudsonville two times each during the conference schedule, the Falcons played non-league games against state-ranked teams like Belleville (23-1), South Christian (22-2) and Grand Rapids West Catholic (20-3).
“I schedule a rigorous schedule,” Large explained. “I think Rockford had the number one strength of schedule and we were number two. A lot of the losses that we took were against top ten teams. People look at our record and go ahhh, we can beat them, but no, we are coming to play hard basketball.”
Caledonia finished the season with an 18-6 record. Like the Falcons, the Fighting Scots have a young team with six freshmen and three sophomores on the roster. Two of the freshmen, Emily Stauffer and Olivia Foster, led the team in scoring against the Falcons as Stauffer had 14 points and Foster added 11. Gortmaker, also a freshman, added five points.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
The East Kentwood, South Christian and Zion Christian girls basketball teams all won their respective district championship games on Friday and advance to the regional semifinals.
In a Division 1 final at Byron Center, East Kentwood beat Caledonia 44-40 to advance to regional play. The Falcons (13-12 overall) face Forest Hills Northern (22-2 overall and OK White champions) at 7 p.m. Monday, March 10, at Grandville High School.
In Division 2, South Christian defeated Holland Christian 59-50 for its district title. The Sailors (22-2 and top of the OK Gold) will play Paw Paw (20-4) at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at South Christian.
Meanwhile, Zion Christian won a Division 4 district championship Friday with a 33-28 win over local rival Tri-unity Christian. The Mountaineers (18-6) face St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (10-14) at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at Martin High School.
A leader on the basketball court as a high school and college standout, and then a leader in the classroom and at every level of educational administration over a 33-year career, Arnetta Thompson has been a staunch advocate for underrepresented groups in sports.
To recognize her work in creating opportunities for those groups, and all students, the Wyoming Godfrey-Lee Public Schools superintendent has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Thompson is the second recipient of the award, as Novi principal Nicole Carter received the inaugural honor last year. Thompson will receive the Hampton Award during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Division 1 Final on March 15 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
“I’m passionate about students – especially students that are not always the top of the class…”
“I just feel honored that I’m allowed to be in these spaces, to be selected as a principal or a superintendent, that people believe in me enough to believe I can help their students become better people and reach their goals,” Thompson said. “The rewarding part is seeing those students that you reconnect with or those you stay connected with and see what their paths in life become as a result of crossing paths with me.
“I’m passionate about students – especially students that are not always the top of the class, not the typical student – and helping guide them with the resources and with people that look like them and then opportunities to do some things they hadn’t done and didn’t even think they could do.”
Thompson is in her second school year as superintendent of Godfrey-Lee schools. She previously served 20 years in Grand Rapids Public Schools – as a teacher for six, then as an athletic director, assistant principal, instructional assistant principal and K-8 principal – and also served as an elementary curriculum specialist for Muskegon Public Schools and in multiple roles in the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System including as superintendent during the 2021-22 school year. She began her professional career as a teacher in Memphis City, Tenn., schools after graduating from Tennessee Tech University.
She is a two-time appointee to the MHSAA Representative Council – previously serving from 2009-13 and currently a two-year term.
“Arnetta Thompson’s work to empower her students and those who have worked for her and with her is simply inspiring,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “She has brought compassion and vision to every district with which she’s served. The Hampton Award recognizes promotion and advancement of underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, and Arnetta has continuously provided leadership in that area including now during a second tenure on the MHSAA Representative Council.”
Thompson earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary education biology from Tennessee Tech in 1990, and her master’s in education with a concentration in educational leadership from Western Michigan University in 2001. She went on to also earn an educational specialist degree from Grand Valley State University in 2011 and her doctorate in philosophy from Eastern Michigan University in 2017.
During six years teaching at Memphis City, Thompson also served as varsity head coach of the girls basketball, volleyball and track & field teams. Coming to Grand Rapids Public Schools in 1997, she served as a lead teacher at Grand Rapids Union’s alternative high school, then as athletic director and assistant principal at Grand Rapids Creston. She also served as an assistant girls basketball coach at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills for one season and coached the Grand Rapids Central varsity for four.
Achieved 8 varsity letters at Ottawa Hills and played basketball at Tennessee Tech
Thompson earned eight varsity letters across three sports for Ottawa Hills before graduating in 1985, garnering all-state recognition in basketball and all-city in volleyball and also competing in track & field. She then played four seasons of basketball at Tennessee Tech, starting on the team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 1988-89. Thompson has been married to her husband Willie for more than 30 years. They have two daughters, Daenetta Joseph and Arnell Thompson.
A scoring drought at the worst possible time proved to be the difference for the South Christian boys basketball team as the Sailors dropped a 47-44 decision to Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the semifinals of a Division 2 regional Tuesday at Grand Rapids Christian.
In a game that was close throughout, the Sailors were unable to buy a bucket in the final two minutes and 30 seconds of the struggle between the perennial Division 2 powerhouses.
“This game won’t define us”
“It was a great game,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “I thought it was two really, really physical tough teams. Give them (Catholic Central) a lot of credit. They made one more shot than we did and it ended up being the difference.
“This game won’t define us. It won’t define the season that we had. We won 20 games, the conference championship, a district championship, we beat some really, really good teams along the way. I’m really proud of my guys the way they kept fighting when the ball wasn’t going in for us.”
The fourth quarter looked promising for South Christian in the early going. The Sailors, who were up 32-31 at the beginning of the quarter, built the lead to 38-33 with five minutes remaining in the contest. South Christian senior standout Carson Vis led the Sailors in the early minutes of the final quarter as he pumped in six points during a 6-2 run.
Cougars post 8-0 run in the fourth
Catholic Central, however, responded in a big way led by junior Izaya Lathridge. The Cougars responded with an 8-0 run as Lathridge scored a bucket and then came back to drain a three-point shot that tied the game at 38-38 with 4:20 remaining in the game. Lathridge then struck again from long range as his three-pointer at the 3:19 mark found the bottom of the net and staked the Cougars to a 41-38 lead.
“The guys did a tremendous job,” said Catholic Central Coach Chris Pearl. “We were locked in as we knew they beat us by double digits January 28. The way our guys have fought, the ways these guys bonded together. Our effort, our fight, our togetherness is second to none.”
That trey ignited a run of threes by both teams. South Christian responded with a three of its own as Caleb Pleune sank a triple tying the game at 41-41 with 3:04 remaining.
Catholic then came back with a three ball from Jordan McCoy with 2:42 remaining that put the Cougars up 44-41. On South’s ensuing possession Davis Kemper rained in a trey to tie the game at 44-44 with 2:29 remaining.
South Christian’s Davis Kemper (35) looks for an open teammate. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
For the Sailors, those points would prove to be the final points they would score in the contest as the basket seemed to have a lid on it for the remainder of the game.
Catholic Central took the lead for good with 1:17 remaining in the game when McCoy drove baseline and scored what proved to be the game-winning points.
South missed a three-pointer on its next possession and with 30 seconds left the Sailors were denied again after turning Catholic Central over on defense and coming up empty on the offensive end.
After McCoy split a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining in the game, South had one final opportunity, but the Sailors missed a pair of free throws and a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
“The ball wasn’t falling for us tonight”
“The ball wasn’t falling for us tonight,” Johnson said. “We obviously didn’t play our best. Man, we missed a lot of layups, a lot of free throws. In a three-point game you can’t do that at this stage.”
Both teams experienced difficulties at the free-throw line in the tense game as South Christian finished the game converting six-of-13 free throws, while Catholic Central converted just two-of-six.
Catholic Central, which improved to 19-7 with the win, led the game 9-8 at the end of the first quarter. South Christian, which ended the season with a 20-5 record, surged ahead in the second quarter and led 24-19 at halftime before the lead was whittled down to 32-31 heading into the final quarter.
South Christian’s Nolan Fackler (13) looks to inbound the ball against Catholic Central. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Lathridge led Catholic Central with 14 points, including four treys. Collin Lott added 11 points, followed by Jordan McCoy and Jack Bowen with nine apiece.
Catholic Central drains 7 threes
For the game, the Cougars connected on seven three-point shots.
“Every day, these guys are in the gym,” Pearl said. “Whether its before school, after school, before practice or after practice. If you looked at our season shooting, it’s not the best. We average about five threes a game on 20ish attempts, but if you trust it, you have confidence, and that’s the biggest thing in shooting. It’s not the way you start, it’s the way you finish it.”
Vis led the way for South Christian with 19 points, followed by Ike Schrotenboer, 12 and Davis Kemper, five.
For the Sailors, the loss meant the end of the high school careers for a memorable eight-man senior class that included Vis, Schrotenboer, Kemper, Pleune, Fackler, Charlie DeHaan, Ty Brinks and Wyatt Sall.
“This class was really special,” Johnson said. “Eight seniors that I felt were all in, all year. They gave us a lot of stuff to be proud of. I’m really, really proud of them. I think some of the guys left their legacy and they will be remembered forever.
“This game can’t define us who we are as people, we just have to continue to be strong in our faith and just think about all the positives in life.”
Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler returned to the bench Tuesday night for a regional semifinal game against Bellevue after missing the district finals last Friday with the flu.
“The guys are clicking on all cylinders and my assistant coaches are amazing,” said Keeler, who’s seeking his 20th regional championship in his career. “They didn’t miss a beat. You spend all that time as a coach preparing them and it’s a matter of them walking it out and they are doing a great job of it.”
Tri-unity got off to a hot start in the first half with a 48-23 lead into halftime and went on to an impressive 80-45 win over the Broncos.
Junior Clayton Rowlader shot the ball effectively throughout the game, leading the Defenders with 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.
“He’s always been a good shooter, but sometimes kids have to learn how to shoot and be consistent,” Keeler said. “He’s grown so much; he is very coachable. He turns down shots that he can’t take his time with. Some kids that are good shooters don’t like playing defense, but he’s really bought in.”
Keaton Blanker had 12 points and six assists. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Seniors Noah Silverton and Keaton Blanker filled the stat sheet. Silverton was all over the floor scoring 12 points with six assists, four steals and five rebounds. Blanker also scored 12 points and added six assists.
The Defenders were dropping shots all game long in the 80-point effort, which equals their season-high point total.
Noah Silverton had 12 points, six assists, four steals and five rebounds. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
“We were popping them; Keaton hit a couple of threes early, and Noah hit a couple,” Keeler explained. “Even Marcus (Lokiden) came off the bench and hit a few as well.”
Tri-unity (23-2), ranked No. 2 in Division 4, hosts Kalamazoo Phoenix (19-4) in the regional finals at 7 p.m. Thursday. This is a rematch from last year’s regional finals, where the Defenders secured a decisive 73-37 victory.
“They are a good team; it will be a challenging game,” Keeler said. “They have some talented and explosive players, we have to stop their penetration and make them earn their buckets from the outside.”
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Division 1, District 8 at East Kentwood
First Round: Ottawa Hills/East Kentwood 6 p.m. Monday, March 3 District Semifinal: Winner faces Wyoming 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5
Division 2, District 44 at Kelloggsville
First Round: Aviation Academy/Kelloggsville 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 3 Winner faces Catholic Central in Semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 Godwin Heights/Grand River Prep 7 p.m. Monday, March 3 Winner faces Grand Rapids Christian in Semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5
Division 4, District 113 at Zion Christian
District Semifinal at Zion Christian: Tri-unity Christian/Sacred Heart 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 Muskegon Catholic Central/Zion Christian 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 District Final at Zion Christian: 7 p.m. Friday, March 7
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity Christian Boys Basketball District Championship 2025. (Photos Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
The Tri-unity Christian boys basketball team advanced to the regionals with a district final win Friday night, beating Zion Christian 66-35 to claim yet another district title for legendary Coach Mark Keeler.
This time, however, Tri-unity had to play without Coach Keeler, who was out due to illness. Assistant Coach Brent Voorhees guided the team to victory.
“Last week showed the maturity of our senior group,” Voorhees said. “With our head coach being out with sickness, our seniors stepped up from a leadership standpoint and made sure we came out focused. Our game plan on Friday was to bring intensity on defense, aggressiveness on offense, and get great energy from our bench. We accomplished all three things and the boys played well.
“Seniors Keaton Blanker and Noah Silverton led the way offensively with 17 each. Both were able to get penetration and finish through contact, and we got some early production from senior captain Joey Mellon as well. Joey had to come out late in the first quarter with foul trouble, and sophomore Cody Osbun picked up the slack on the defensive end in Joey’s absence. We also had a huge dunk from senior Joseph Peters in the first quarter that gave our team a lot of energy to jump out to an early lead.”
Mellon added eight points and Osbun had 10 rebounds.
The Defenders host Bellevue on Tuesday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m. in a Division 4 regional semifinal.
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out our latest edition of WKTV Friday Night Highlights featuring many area boys and girls high school basketball teams in action.
Every week, we’ll bring you several high school basketball clips from the Wyoming and Kentwood area, highlight some top performers and give a snapshot of the latest conference standings.
It took a quarter for the young East Kentwood basketball team to get acclimated to the state tournament, but once the youthful Falcons got up to speed, they flew off with a 60-43 win against Wyoming in the semifinals of the Division 1 district tournament at Wyoming.
The win sets up a district final between East Kentwood and Byron Center at 7 p.m. Friday at Wyoming.
Few varsity teams in the area are as young as East Kentwood, as the Falcons start four sophomores and a junior. They also bring three to four more sophomores off the bench in their typical rotation.
“We started off pretty slow, but that is to be expected as this team is pretty much all sophomores and this was their first district basketball appearance,” said East Kentwood Coach Michael Thomas. “The crowd was large and very loud and I think that surprised our guys a little. It forced us into some turnovers and unusual plays, but by the second quarter the guys became used to it.”
The opening quarter was a tight, defensive struggle with East Kentwood leading 12-9 after eight minutes.
East Kentwood took control of the contest in the second quarter. The Falcons offense began to heat up behind the offensive skills of junior Randy Chapman, who led all scorers with 26 points. The Falcons outscored Wyoming 19-8 during the second quarter and Chapman led the way with 13 of Kentwood’s 19 points during the second stanza.
“RJ just kind of took over,” Thomas said. “He really went to work in the second quarter. He is our one guy that has that state tournament experience as he has played in two district championship games before and it showed.”
The big second quarter by Chapman helped the Falcons take a 31-17 lead into halftime.
Wolves pick up pace in third
Wyoming picked up the pace on the offensive end of the floor during the third quarter. The Wolves scored 16 points during the third led by Warren Williams, who scored seven that quarter, and Avonte’ Wiggins and Taeshon Wilson both added four.
East Kentwood also scored 16 points during the quarter as the Falcons took a 47-33 lead into the final quarter.
Along with the offensive exploits from Chapman, the Falcons received strong play along the front line from 6-foot-9 sophomore Drew Kenyi.
East Kentwood’s Drew Kenyi. (Greg Chrapek, WKTV)
“Andrew played really well,” Thomas said. “He finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. He was huge for us and scored on a lot of putbacks. He finished well around the basket.”
The Falcons also received a solid game up front from 6-foot-5 sophomore Sammy Makung.
“Sammy scored six points for us and also had 10 rebounds,” Thomas said. “He really helped us out on the boards. Those two big fellas really came up huge for us. They did a really good job of helping limit Wyoming to one shot (per possession).”
East Kentwood tightened the defense during the final quarter as the Falcons outscored Wyoming 13-10 to come away with the 60-43 win.
A big factor in the young East Kentwood team being able to adjust to the big stage of the state tournament was the difficult schedule during the season. The Falcons played just three teams with a non-winning record the entire season. East Kentwood also played six teams ranked in the top 15 in Division 1 of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Power Ratings. That included two games apiece against No. 3 Rockford and No. 7 Hudsonville in conference play.
In non-league play the Falcons played No. 4 Birmingham Brother Rice, No. 6 Detroit U-of-D Jesuit, No. 9 Detroit Martin Luther King and No. 15 Port Huron Northern. The Falcons also played Saginaw United, who has a 17-5 record and Center Line at 16-6.
“I think what helped us was our strength of schedule,” Thomas said. “We played the No. 2 strongest schedule in the state. After Orchard Lake St. Mary, we were No. 2 in the entire state in strength of schedule, and we went 11-11 against that schedule. We were also competitive in those games. I’d say there was only one time that we got run out of the gym and the rest were pretty close games. To finish with an 11-11 record against that type of schedule starting four sophomores and a junior is impressive. I’m proud of these guys and how well they competed against some of the best teams in the state.”
With the win, East Kentwood improved to 12-11 for the season. Along with 26 points from Chapman and 14 from Kenyi, the Falcons received eight points from CJ Reynolds, six from Makung, three points from Major Barnes, two from Dau Dau and one point from Jeremiah Cook.
Wyoming’s Avonte’ Wiggins led the Wolves with 14 points. (Greg Chrapek, WKTV)
Wyoming finished the season with a 12-12 overall record. The Wolves were led in scoring by senior Avonte’ Wiggins who finished with 14 points. Senior Taeshon Wilson added 11 points followed by senior Warren Williams with seven points. Jack Hogan added three points while Elijah McGee, Brayden Williams and Brad Lewis added two points apiece with Qua’vari Palmer and Zy’erre Debose adding one point each.
The current Tri-unity Christian team and some former players join together at Coach Mark Keeler’s final home game of his career. (Courtesy, Tri-unity Christian/Katlyn Keeler)
As the final whistle blew last Friday at Tri-unity Christian’s home court, which bears the name of legendary Coach Mark Keeler, the gym was filled with former players and community members who honored him after an impressive 38-year career at the school.
“It’s bittersweet, after doing this for 40 years it’s done,” said Keeler, who now has 714 career wins, third on the all-time MHSAA list. “It was a little overwhelming … it was so much fun seeing some former players come out, and I got many text messages from those that couldn’t make it.”
WKTV Friday Night Highlights host Ty Marzean interviews Coach Mark Keeler.
Tri-unity notched their 15th consecutive win on Senior Night with a 57-25 victory over Potter’s House. All eight of the Defenders seniors played significant minutes in their last regular season game in front of the home crowd.
Senior forward Noah Silverton led the team with 13 points, and 6-foot-7 center Joey Mellon filled the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Hudson Ghent added nine points, while Keaton Blanker scored eight.
Seniors Tyler Laansma, Joseph Peters, Hezekiah Nobel, and Marcus Lokiden, as well as student manager Sean Gibbons, all contributed.
‘It was nice because we knew this was a game we could get everybody in,” Keeler explained.
The Defenders maintained their strong defensive performance, leading 31-11 at halftime and allowing only 14 more points in the second half.
“Our goal was to keep them under 30,” Keeler said. “They all played defense really well. Sometimes late in those types of game the players tend to want to relax on defense, but they played well throughout. We have had some games this year where that wasn’t the case, but they have improved greatly this year.”
With the regular season now complete, the Defenders can concentrate on defending their Division 4 state championship from last year. Tri-unity aims to compete in its fourth consecutive state finals game.
Tri-unity was due to play the winner of the Holland Calvary vs. Covert game, but Covert dropped out of the tournament.
“We still have a tournament to coach, the team is excited. We are going to get after it and hopefully we can play in that final game of the tournament,” Keeler said.
Tri-unity Christian Coach Mark Keeler. (Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity (20-2) faces Holland Calvary (7-5) at Martin High School on Wednesday at 5:30 pm.
The winner of that game will play the winner of Zion Christian vs. Martin on Friday night at Martin High School for the District 113 title.
Keeler will now have to follow the advice he used to give his seniors about leaving it all out on the court.
“I would always tell the seniors, this is a whole lot more important to you because I’ll be coming back, you’re not. I can’t say that anymore.”
Tri-unity Christian Coach Mark Keeler chatting with a ref. (Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out our latest edition of WKTV Friday Night Highlights featuring many area boys and girls high school basketball teams in action.
Every week, we’ll bring you several high school basketball clips from the Wyoming and Kentwood area, highlight some top performers and give a snapshot of the latest conference standings.
A fast start proved to be the difference for the South Christian boys basketball team in its showdown with Northview as a big first quarter propelled the Sailors to a 73-68 win in a clash of the top two teams in the OK Gold.
Northview entered the game with a perfect conference record and needed a win to wrap up the conference title. The Wildcats were in position to win the Gold outright after defeating South Christian earlier thanks to a last-second buzzer beater. Not only are the two teams the front runners in the conference, but both squads entered the game ranked in the state with Northview coming in at 17th in Division 1 in the latest MHSAA power rankings, while South Christian entered the game ranked eighth in Division 2.
Playing on its home floor, South Christian wasted little time in getting its home fans fired up as it jumped out to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We had a great start which was huge for us,” said South Christian Coach Taylor Johnson. “We hit some shots early and got a lot of momentum going and we were able to get the crowd into it.”
Vis sinks 11 points in first quarter, including 3 treys
Senior standout Carson Vis was a big part of South Christian’s fast start. Vis totaled 11 points in the opening quarter, including draining three treys.
“Carson had a huge first quarter for us,” Johnson said. “He hit some big shots for us. Ike Schrotenboer also had a big first quarter as he made some big layups for us.”
Northview clawed back into the game during the second quarter as the Wildcats trimmed the South Christian lead to 37-33 by halftime.
Foul trouble played a role in Northview cutting into the Sailor lead. While the Sailors had some players in foul trouble, several players came into the game and provided some quality minutes. One of those players was sophomore Austin Burgess.
“Austin came off the bench and hit some big shots for us,” Johnson said. “Ike Schrotenboer also continued to play really well for us inside. He finished the game with 13 points and all of those points came in the first half.”
South Christian center Ike Schrotenboer totaled 13 points and seven rebounds against Northview.
(WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
South opened up some breathing room during the second half as the Sailors built a 56-47 lead to end the third quarter.
Northview made a final push during the final quarter as foul trouble continued to hamper the Sailors. South, however, was able to hold off the Wildcats and claim the victory.
“We had some turnovers and we continued to battle foul trouble in the fourth quarter,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of the way the kids battled and hung in there. We had some big rebounds and played some good defense in the fourth quarter.
“We also hit some key free throws at the end. We had a great crowd and it was a great high school basketball game. I’m really proud of our guys.”
Vis led the Sailors with 28 points, while Schrotenboer turned in 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Burgess added 13 points and Davis Kemper totaled 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Davis Kemper tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
South Christian going for share of OK Gold Friday
The Sailors improved to 10-1 in the conference, while Northview finished conference play at 11-1. South Christian has a chance to clinch a share of the league title when it hosts Wayland on Senior Night Friday.
“Wayland is going to be ready to play,” Johnson said. “We have to be focused and come out ready to play. It will definitely be special to win the conference. For us, it’s always a goal to win the conference, but we are going to have to come out with a lot of clarity and be ready to play.”
Overall, South Christian improved to 17-4 for the season. After starting with a 1-3 record, the Sailors have won 16 of their last 17 games.
“We’ve played a tough schedule,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen a lot of growth in this team during the season and the guys play with a lot of grit. They have continued to get better and better throughout the season.”
After wrapping up the regular season Friday, the Sailors and the rest of the teams in the state begin the state tournament next week.
South Christian is hosting a Division 2 regional next week. The Sailors have a bye in the first round and open district action by playing the winner of the Kelloggsville/West Michigan Aviation Academy game in a semifinal next Wednesday.
As the boys basketball regular season nears the end, the Tri-unity Defenders are in the midst of an impressive 13-game winning streak after a pair of wins Friday and Saturday.
The Defenders secured their 23rd conference championship under longtime Coach Mark Keeler with a 60-30 victory over West Michigan Aviation Academy Friday, winning the Alliance League for the first time since 2022.
“I can’t tell you how much fun I’m having with this being my last year and with this group of young men,” said Keeler, who has earned six state championships, six state runner-up trophies, 15 Final Four appearances, 19 regional titles, 26 district titles and 23 conference championships. “They are so coachable. I’ve been very proud of the maturity level of the team this year. They have done a great job keeping their focus during the season.”
Tri-unity Christian Coach Mark Keeler and wife Cheryl after getting his 700th win. He now has 712 wins, which puts him at third place in the MHSAA state record book. (Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
The Defenders are led by senior captains Joey Mellon and Keaton Blanker, who both played key roles on last year’s State championship team.
“Joey and Keaton are my leaders,” Keeler said. “They were a part of the 8-man rotation I had last year. They really have bought in this year and are great team guys. Senior leadership has a lot to do with how far your team can advance.”
Tri-unity senior captains Joey Mellon (pictured) and Keaton Blanker have led the Defenders this season. Mellon had 25 points and 12 rebounds in a Saturday win over Beal City. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity used great defense and rebounding to claim a 32-7 advantage after the first half on Friday night.
“When you play defense like that it allows you to build a lead,” Keeler explained. “I stress to them how important it is to put their identity in something and they have done a phenomenal job on defense this year.”
The Defenders have lived up to their name as they have allowed only 39 points per game during their 13-game winning streak.
“I don’t think we could play any better defense than what we did on Friday,” Keeler said. “We have been able to do that against some of the teams we’ve played. We also look at rebounding, we did a great job with offensive rebounds. Everyone wants to shoot the three in today’s game. We want to hurry them so it’s a lower percentage shot and rebound well.”
Tri-unity senior captains Keaton Blanker (pictured) and Joey Mellon have led the Defenders this year. Blanker had 12 points, six assists and four steals in a Saturday win over Beal City. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Mellon and Blanker are not the only seniors making plays for the Defenders. Senior forwards Noah Silverton and Marcus Lokiden have played meaningful minutes at a high level for Keeler’s crew.
Silverton scored 13 points against Aviation Academy, while Lokiden added 10 points and three steals.
“Noah is really helping us this year, and Marcus sparks us, he plays much taller than he is and is a great shooter.”
Tri-unity’s Marcus Lokiden. (Photo Courtesy, Becky Rillema)
Tri-unity also participated in the Alliance Invite at Kuyper College, where they faced Beal City, ranked No.12 in Division 4.
Joey Mellon was the standout performer for the team, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in their 62-42 victory over Beal City. Keaton Blanker also had a strong game, contributing 12 points, six assists, and four steals. Noah Silverton added 10 points and four steals.
Tri-unity concludes the regular season with an away game against Muskegon West Michigan Christian on Tuesday night, and returns home for Senior Night Friday against Alliance League rival Potter’s House, marking the final home game of Coach Keeler’s career.
“I think there will be some emotion for this old ball coach, I can’t say enough for this community, it’s been a joy to be a part of it.”
By Cris Greer WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director greer@wktv.org
Check out our latest edition of WKTV Friday Night Highlights featuring many area boys and girls high school basketball teams in action.
Every week, we’ll bring you several high school basketball clips from the Wyoming and Kentwood area, highlight some top performers and give a snapshot of the latest conference standings.
Trailing by nine points midway through the third quarter of its OK Silver basketball showdown with Fruitport Tuesday, Godwin Heights was in need of an energy boost, especially considering the Wolverines were playing their fourth game in five days.
That boost came from lone senior Jamaan Hastings in a big, big way. Hastings drained back-to-back treys from downtown that provided the spark for a come-from-behind 58-51 win giving the Wolverines sole possession of first place in the conference.
“I knew we needed this win,” Hastings said. “I’ve been out for a couple of weeks so I knew I had to step up for my team and make a couple of plays. This was a very big win. We knew we needed to come in here with energy and intensity in order to win. For our confidence, this was a much-needed win.”
The treys by Hastings ignited a 17-4 run by the Wolverines that turned a 34-25 deficit midway through the third quarter into a 42-38 lead by the end of the quarter in a game that had a huge impact on who will win the conference title.
“It’s nice having him back, being able to provide some of that scoring punch” said Godwin Heights Coach Bernard Varnesdeel. “The message was, they (Fruitport) are a good team. I told them you got to understand this is a game of runs. They are a good team. This is championship Tuesday and you better suck it up and claw back and get in the game and we did.
“I’m very happy for Jamaan. He’s been out a few games, but he comes back and has a big game. Jamaan is a kid who lines up every day and works his tail off.”
Up by four points heading into the final quarter, the Wolverines turned to their defense to take command of the game. That defense, anchored by post player Isaiah Guyton, who blocked three Fruitport shots during the fourth quarter, held the Trojans scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 30 seconds of the final quarter.
“Isaiah has those Inspector Gadget arms, they just keep going sometimes,” Varnesdeel said. “Being able to get a piece of those shots, and that’s why we try to teach them to keep your hands up, you never know what you are going to get.”
The Godwin defense was evident all over the floor as Godwin’s perimeter defenders forced turnovers on the perimeter.
“In practice all we do is work on defense,” Hastings said. “We knew the scouting report. Our coach had us very prepared and we knew what to do to shut them down.”
Godwin Heights junior Dere’on Brown (1) sets up the offense against Fruitport. Brown scored 16 points in the win. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)
Godwin’s 7-0 run to start final quarter huge
While Godwin kept the Trojans off the scoreboard, the Wolverines expanded the lead to double digits. A three-point shot by Dere’on Brown was the highlight of a 7-0 run to start the final quarter that enabled Godwin to take a 48-38 lead.
Fruitport cut the Wolverine lead to six points with two minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Trojans would get other than trimming the margin to 56-51 with 12 seconds left in the game before Brown slammed the door shut with a pair of free throws with three seconds left in the game.
Godwin Heights improved to 9-2 in the league, while Fruitport fell a game behind with an 8-3 mark. Both teams have three league games left.
The win also evened the ledger for Godwin against Fruitport as the Trojans edged the Wolverines 56-54 in their first meeting of the season last month at Godwin.
Like the previous meeting between the two teams, the contest was close right from the opening tip-off.
Godwin Heights grabbed the early lead at 14-7 in the first quarter as Hastings ignited the offense with a pair of treys, while Brown also added a triple that quarter.
Godwin Heights post player Lonnie Sanders (24) eyes a rebound during Tuesday’s OK Silver showdown at Fruitport. (WKTV Greg Chrapek)
Fruitport led 24-22 at the half and 34-25 in the third
Fruitport turned the tables in the second quarter as the Trojans outscored Godwin 17-8 to take a 24-22 lead into halftime.
Fruitport kept the pressure up in the early minutes of the second half by outscoring the Wolverines 10-3 to build a 34-25 lead in the opening minutes of the second half.
The offensive lull by the visiting Wolverines may have been the effects of Godwin playing its fourth game in five days. After defeating Calvin Christian last Friday, the Wolverines traveled to Portage Northern and suffered a 48-44 loss to a 16-3 Berrien Springs team. After a day off Sunday, Godwin defeated visiting Belding 55-23 Monday in a makeup game.
To counter any fatigue, the Wolverines relied on a total-team effort against Fruitport. Every player who was dressed for the game against Fruitport played during the opening half.
“That was two real good teams going back and forth,” Varnesdeel said. “I feel like our depth really, really saved us, and it wasn’t so much the second half, but in the first half we played all 12 kids and all 12 of them contributed in some way, shape or form which gave us a huge, huge lift in the second half.”
The Wolverines, who return to action this Friday against neighborhood rival Kelloggsville, were led on offense by Hastings with 17 points, while Brown added 16. Jaden Farmer also hit double figures with 10 points and Guyton added eight.
With three games remaining in the season, Godwin is in position to win back-to-back league titles.
“Super proud of the boys,” Varnesdeel said. “Super proud of the community. There were a lot of people in the community here supporting us and cheering us on.”
Godwin Heights junior Isaiah Guyton (35) scored some key points along with playing strong defense in the game against Calvin Christian. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Defense was the name of the game when Godwin Heights traveled to Grandville Calvin Christian for a key OK Silver clash Friday evening. In the end, the visiting Wolverines came up with the key defensive plays and just enough offense to secure a 39-34 win in a struggle that came down to the final seconds.
The win was a huge victory for Godwin Heights as it gave the Wolverines sole possession of second place in the conference and keeps them a half game behind league-leading Fruitport.
“Our pre-game talk was we have to hang our hats on the defensive side of the basketball,” said Godwin Heights Coach Bernard Varnesdeel. “That’s what we build off of and that’s what we are working for. Down the stretch that was the last message, we said we have to win on defense. Very proud of the effort coming back on the road to get a tough conference win.”
The contest was a defensive struggle from the opening tip. The host Squires took the early lead in the game and were up 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The Calvin Christian defense was especially stingy for an almost eight-minute stretch of the first and second quarters when it held Godwin Heights without a point. After a three-point bucket by Godwin’s David Rodriguez with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter, the Wolverines did not score again until Isaiah Guyton connected on a bucket at the 3:34 mark of the second quarter.
Calvin Christian led 17-12 at halftime
While the Wolverines had a lid on their basket, the Godwin defense picked up the slack and allowed Calvin just five points over the same eight-minutes stretch as the bucket by Guyton cut Calvin’s lead to 14-10. The two teams combined for just five points the rest of the first half as Calvin led 17-12 at halftime.
Wolverines score 13 points in the third
In the second half, the Godwin Heights offense began to cook in the third quarter. The Wolverines doubled their offensive output of the entire first half as they scored 13 points during the third quarter. Trailing 19-18 midway through the third quarter, the Wolverines took a lead for the first time in the game when Jaden Farmer drained a trey putting Godwin up 21-19. Farmer closed out the third quarter for the Wolverines by adding a three-point play the old-fashioned way as he scored on a drive to the bucket, drew a foul and tacked on the free throw giving Godwin a 25-21 lead heading into the final quarter.
Godwin Heights guard Jaden Farmer (2) led the Wolverines with nine points. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
“Before halftime, we were one for our last 26 from beyond the three-point line,” Varnesdeel said, “so we made a couple of them in the second half. We also made a couple of jump shots which were huge for us. I told the guys at halftime, keep taking them with confidence. We are going to get one or two of them sooner or later. Take them with confidence and be ready to knock them down. We had to get a big win.”
For Farmer and his teammates, the game meant a lot since Calvin Christian defeated the Wolverines 50-35 at Godwin in the first meeting between the two league rivals in early January.
“We just wanted to execute our plays,” Farmer said. “That was our main point as they beat us last time. We wanted to get back so we needed to play defense really well and execute.”
The game tightened up even more during the fourth quarter. Calvin Christian tied the game at 30-30 midway through the final quarter when Grant Morren came up with a four-point play. Morren drained a three and was fouled on the shot and then added the free-throw to eliminate what was a four-point Godwin lead.
Godwin gained the lead for good with 3:41 remaining in the game when Guyton scored a bucket in the paint putting the Wolverines up 34-32.
Up 35-34 with under two minutes left in the game, the Godwin defense again stepped up as the Wolverines kept the Squires off the scoreboard the remainder of the game.
“We work a lot on defense in practice,” Farmer said. “We watch a lot of film and work on executing on defense.”
Godwin put the game on ice with four free throws in the final two minutes of the game, including a pair of free throws by Justin Chan with one second remaining on the clock.
Godwin Heights Justin Chan (12) sealed the win against Calvin Christian with a pair of free throws with one second remaining in the game. (WKTV, Greg Chrapek)
Godwin Heights parlayed balanced scoring in the defensive struggle with Farmer leading the offense with nine points. Chan and Lonnie Sanders added seven points apiece, Dere’on Brown added six pints, Guyton five points, Rodriguez four points and Zxavier Guzman three points.
Morren led Calvin Christian with 15 points, while Will Orme added eight.
Godwin Heights improved to 7-2 in the conference, 10-7 overall. The Wolverines host league-rival Belding in a makeup game on Monday and then travel to Fruitport on Tuesday to play the Trojans who are 8-2 in the league.
“We control our own destiny,” Varnesdeel said. “Fruitport is one game ahead, but we have to go to Fruitport. They beat us at home so we get a chance to at least tie with them. If we win out in the conference it will put us in a position to tie for the conference or win it out.”
Michigan farmers produce an abundance of crops that feed not only fellow Michiganders, but people across America. Those farmers, however, also have a culprit that takes a toll on their production. That culprit is the large deer population across the state.
Every year, deer cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damage across the state of Michigan.
Initiatives have taken place to combat this problem and one of the organizations that is addressing the problem is the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), an organization dedicated to the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of America’s hunting heritage.
Across the country, NWTF staff and volunteers seek out innovative ways to welcome new and diverse audiences into America’s hunting traditions, and momentum-building efforts in Michigan are no different. Jen Davis, NWTF hunting and shooting Region 3 coordinator for Michigan, recently promoted the launch of the new Farm Tour retention initiative. Davis presented this new program during the Michigan Soybean Committee’s 2024 Soybean On-Farm Research Summary Tour.
Hunt Michigan Collaborative partnered with National Deer Association
This program, developed by Hunt Michigan Collaborative in partnership with the National Deer Association, aims to address crop damage on Michigan farms while also creating new opportunities for hunters to hone their skills and contribute to conservation. As a key partner in the initiative, the NWTF plays a vital role in connecting hunters with the Farm Tour program.
The Hunt Michigan Collaborative aims to assimilate and streamline efforts to grow hunter numbers in Michigan, while simultaneously providing landowners, urban areas and farmers with much needed wildlife management.
Every year, deer cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damage across the state of Michigan, including corn, soybeans, buckwheat, alfalfa and apple crops. (Courtesy, pxhere.com)
The Farm Tour initiative connects farmers experiencing crop damage with conservation organizations seeking land access for new and continuing hunters. This mutually beneficial partnership helps farmers address significant crop losses, estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, while providing hunters with valuable opportunities to fill their freezers and develop their skills. Excess deer harvested during these hunts are donated to local communities through the Hunters Feeding Michigan program.
“Here in Michigan, as with the broader Midwest region, we are dominated by private land, much of it in agriculture,” Davis said. “We also have abundant wildlife populations filling the remaining adjacent woodlands and wetlands. This can lead to tensions for farmers, for new hunters and for wildlife. The Farm Tour aims to broker relationships that offer solutions for all parties involved.”
Participating hunters must possess a Michigan hunting license, a valid deer hunting license and must follow all Michigan deer hunting regulations and Farm Tour-specific rules during the hunt.
Farmers interested in joining the program are encouraged to complete the form on the Hunt Michigan Collaborative website https://huntmicollaborative.com and hunters are encouraged to contact Jen Davis at jdavis@nwtf.net or by phone at 734-680-6049.
National Wild Turkey Federation
Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested over half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted over 23 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested over $9 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. The organization continues to deliver its mission by working across boundaries on a landscape scale through its Four Shared Values: clean and abundant water, healthy forests and wildlife habitat, resilient communities, and robust recreational opportunities. With the help of its dedicated members, partners and staff, the NWTF continues its work to provide healthy habitats and healthy harvests for future generations.
